Words that soft-pedal wrongdoing are just another form of corruption

I’m getting really sick of the euphemisms. ‘Governance issues’. ‘Best practice’. ‘Not up to the standard we expect’. These phrases all mean something in their own right. But they are routinely used for activities that would be much better described by other words: Words like ‘cheating’, ‘dishonesty’, ‘greed’, or ‘an overwhelming sense of entitlement’.

We use the euphemisms because we are wary of making accusations against people unless a court has first decided guilt or innocence. But using a euphemism like ‘governance issues’ to describe something much worse is itself a cover-up. It numbs us to the enormity of what is going on, and to the betrayal of trust.