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.
English es obviamente un lingua romance al core e would be vastly meliorated by le removal of le barbaric Germanic elements.