Language used by ministers during Covid briefings was ‘slippery and ambiguous,’ study says

‘The government speakers employed different lexicogrammatical strategies to reduce and mitigate the amount of responsibility to themselves solely, while increasing the amount assigned to the general public’

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Language used by the government during its Covid-19 briefings throughout the pandemic was “vague, slippery and ambiguous” so as to reduce accountability, a new study has found.

Researchers from Nottingham Trent University found that ministers adopted “lexicogrammatical strategies” to share responsibility for policy decisions with the public.

Ambiguity in the briefings centred on the use of the word “we” by cabinet members, which the experts said is left open to interpretation as to whether it refers to the government, a political party or the general public as a whole.