Euphemisms act as linguistic anesthesia that numbs conscience.

Evidence

The convoluted language of doublespeak disguises by piling on inflated words that do not add meaning (Lutz, 1987). In his book Telling It Like It Isn’t, Dan Rothwell (1982) characterizes the sanitizing form of euphemisms as “linguistic Novocain” for the conscience that numbs us to unpleasant and harmful realities and the convoluted form as “semantic fog” that obscures and conceals detrimental practices. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2682

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the two forms of doublespeak: sanitizing euphemism as ‘linguistic Novocain’ and convoluted language as ‘semantic fog’.
• XREF: Connects to Bandura’s broader moral disengagement mechanisms — euphemistic labeling as one of the eight mechanisms.