I am going to tell you a deep secret of the English language. When we want to tell the truth, we use Germanic-derived words. When we want to lie, we use Latin-derived words. - Germanic (Old English) words → concrete, direct, sensory, testable - Latinate/French words → abstract, bureaucratic, distancing, often euphemistic Death / harm Germanic (plain, testable):kill, die, hurt Latinate (distancing, euphemistic):terminate, expire, neutralize, collateral damage 👉 “We killed civilians” vs “There was collateral damage” Lying / deception Germanic:lie, cheat, hide Latinate:misrepresent, obfuscate, prevaricate 👉 “He lied” vs “He misrepresented the facts” Money / exploitation Germanic:take, steal, pay Latinate:appropriate, extract, leverage, monetize 👉 “They’re taking your money” vs “They’re extracting value” War / violence Germanic:fight, bomb, burn Latinate:engagement, kinetic action, force projection 👉 “We bombed them” vs “We conducted kinetic operations” Bureaucracy / responsibility Germanic:you broke it, you did it Latinate:mistakes were made, systemic failure occurred 👉 Notice how the subject disappears. Money / exploitation Germanic:take, steal, pay Latinate:appropriate, extract, leverage, monetize 👉 “They’re taking your money” vs “They’re extracting value” War / violence Germanic:fight, bomb, burn Latinate:engagement, kinetic action, force projection 👉 “We bombed them” vs “We conducted kinetic operations” Bureaucracy / responsibility Germanic:you broke it, you did it Latinate:mistakes were made, systemic failure occurred 👉 Notice how the subject disappears. If you see a public statement filled with Latin-sounding words, you are being fooled, tricked, manipulated, or lied to.