William D. Lutz

"William Lutz" redirects here. For the football player, see Wil Lutz.

William D. Lutz
Born (1940-12-12) December 12, 1940 (age 83)
Racine, Wisconsin
Alma materDominican College of Racine, Marquette University, University of Nevada, Reno
Scientific career
FieldsLinguistics
InstitutionsRutgers University-Camden

William D. Lutz (/lʌts/; born December 12, 1940) is an American linguist who specializes in the use of plain language and the avoidance of doublespeak (deceptive language). He wrote a famous essay The World of Doublespeak on this subject as well as the book Doublespeak [1] His original essay and the book described the four different types of doublespeak (euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, and inflated language) and the social dangers of doublespeak.

  1. ^ Lutz, William D. (1989) Doublespeak: From "Revenue Enhancement" to "Terminal Living": How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use Language to Deceive You Harper & Row, New York, ISBN 0-06-016134-5