Googleland: A Strange Variant of English Indeed
August 26, 2021
I used the term “Googzilla” in my monograph the Google Legacy and I refer to everyone’s favorite mom-and-pop online ad service by this coinage in my lectures.
I overlooked the fact that Googzilla and its minion have a language beyond hissing, grunting, and snorting in courts around the world. An insightful person named allegedly Cyrus Shepard coined and trademarked the word “Googlespeak” for his article “Googlespeak TM How Google Limits Thought about Antitrust.” I would love to insert the required TM symbol when I use the word, but I don’t know how to pull this off in the two-bit editor I use to create blog posts in airports. Please, understand that Googlespeak is a trademarked word, and I do not want to trample on anyone’s rights. Will the Google be happy with the word Googlespeak? That I do not know. Who would have thought that Mickey Mouse ears would engender excitement or cause LexisNexis to become agitated by a personal grooming product named in a manner similar to Nexis. I am still afraid to write “Nexus”. Lawyers never sleep because billing…
The article explains that using a specific vocabulary with non-conventional meanings assigned to words has an impact on one’s thoughts. Go to Disneyland and you know what a Magic Kingdom is when you stand in line for a couple of hours and hand over enough money to support an individual living in a tent near the Bureau of Labor Statistics for a week, maybe more.
When in the country of Google, one obviously must speak the citizens’ language. Try out English in Andorra. Let me know how that works out for you. Same in Googleland. I learned:
Orwell observed that when you limit a person’s language, you can successfully limit their thoughts.
As it turns out, in order to turn a blind eye against growing antitrust concerns, Google has codified its own version of Newspeak and made it official company policy.
In documents obtained by The Markup, Google makes it obvious that certain words are taboo in both internal and external communication. The intent of these guidelines couldn’t be more obvious. One document, titled “Five Rules of Thumb for Written Communication,” spells it out clearly. “Words matter. Especially in antitrust law.”
If you live in Googleland, the information in Mr. Shepard’s write up will make no sense to you. For those who reside in other countries, the examples in the essay are likely to add to your understanding of the mom-and-pop outfit.
One problem: After a couple of decades most Googlers and Google users understand Googzilla quite well. Who wants to tangle with the big hypothetical monster. I don’t. I think the GOOG is just peachy keen. Antitrust? Is that a synonym for helping out folks like advertisers, users, Timnit Gebru, and 20 something employees working from home at reduced wage rates? Nope.
Stephen E Arnold, August 26, 2021
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It is very informative content thanks for sharing thei.
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