Corruption and the culture of euphemism

Euphemism is considered an ingenious technique that helps individuals express
themselves in pleasant and witty ways. It allows people to convey their thoughts without sounding offensive or profane.

In criticism, a euphemistic approach can be taken to avoid stirring resentment. If by calling a spade a spade, one invites trouble for him or herself, then perhaps, it will be prudent to refer to it as a ‘digging implement’.
Cunning alternative for corruption.

Thanks to linguistic evolution euphemism now serves broader functions. It plays a crucial role in fostering vicious behaviors. There has been growing use of euphemism as a tool to embellish some distasteful practices in the country.
Exquisite replacements for acts like, bribery, embezzlement, sexual exploitations, theft, extortion, favoritism etc., have been coined, lending a favorable or less negative appearance to these acts.

Let’s take, for instance, two acts of corruption which are prevalent in the Ghanaian society, favoritism and nepotism. These days we hardly hear the words being used to describe their corresponding actions. Words like, ‘connection’, ‘protocol’ etc., have assumed a common substitute. Why?

Some countries take extreme measures to curb the corruption. In countries like North Korea and China, public officials found culpable of corrupt acts may face severe penalties such as life imprisonment and death sentences.
About two years ago, former leader of the China Huarang Assets Management,
Chairman Lai Xiaomin, was executed after being found guilty of corruption.

Even in societies with relatively mild approaches to deterring corruption, culprits could be slapped with fines of huge sums of money, face lengthy jail terms, or even have their properties confiscated.

Above all, people caught engaging in corruption may endure reputations capable of ruining their future fortunes and that of their younger generations.
Whilst these consequences may pose as disincentives, those who have the tenacity to engage in it, however, do so clandestinely. Euphemism obscures the behaviors and aid in achieving this goal.

Again, euphemism for corruption creates room for open indulgence, allowing individuals to comfortably engage in illegal transactions under the guise of accepted ones.

This draws me back to an experience in a ‘trotro’ somewhere mid-April this year. I sat beside a man who was having a conversation over phone. The little I could eavesdrop from his conversation suggested to me he was a public servant who was granting an undue favor to someone.

The most interesting part of the whole engagement was his final remark - that when all was done and dusted, the person was required to offer a ‘token of appreciation’.

“We usually do not accept anything below 1,500 cedis”, he emphatically added.

I was forced into laughter upon hearing that. The man was demanding a post-service ‘appreciation’, and if I’m not wrong, appreciation is supposed to be a voluntary gesture offered when an individual finds a service rendered satisfying.

Obviously, if we were in a sane or half-decent society I would have been confused, but of course, we all know how things work here. Some public officials accrue large sums of money and other fortunes through unethical
means. When questioned, their explanations usually sound like, “just a gift from
someone”. The society may frown on bribery, but certainly not the acceptance of gifts from a benefactor.

The anomaly here is the so called ‘gifts’ are not offered out of generosity, but as conditions strictly attached to favors, making it an act of bribery.

Euphemism for corruption institutionalizes dubious practices. Like Joseph Goebbels said, “a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth”, the society now accepts some unethical behaviors as a norm. For instance, gaining an undue favor over colleagues during job recruitments or school admissions isn’t criticized as it should, but rather credited to the depth of an individual’s social network or connection.

People now boast of how they end up at certain places through connections or affinity to certain people in high offices. In fact, career coaches and counsellors now advice young men and women to expand their social circle to afford them a good chance of benefitting from favoritism, or the society’s favored word, ‘connection’.

The main problem is this frustrates efforts to curb corruption. In the absence of strong institutions to fight corruption, our only hope lies in our individual consciences to clamp down malicious proclivities.

Unfortunately, our various consciences are maneuvered by the euphemistic labels used to conceal corruption. An individual’s conscience may be pricked if he or she is taking a bribe, but if the transaction is termed as an ‘appreciation’ to a service, the person would find nothing wrong with that.

Possible solution?

In fighting corruption, it is important to know the various conditions that smoothens the ground for such actions to thrive. Understanding the role of euphemism in facilitating corruption can be helpful in taking steps to control the behaviors.

For instance, laws that forbid public servants from taking bribes may as well prohibit them from receiving incentives or any form of material ‘appreciations. In this case, people can hardly take bribes under the cloak of ‘Gifts’.