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psychobabble (SIE-ko-bab-uhl) noun
Language laden with jargon from psychotherapy or psychiatry used without much concern for accuracy. [Coined by journalist Richard Dean Rosen (1949- ). From Greek combining form psycho- (mind) + babble (drivel, blather)]. Here is how Rosen describes the term in his 1997 book "Psychobabble: Fast Talk and Quick Cure in the Era of Feeling" : "Psychobabble is ... a set of repetitive verbal formalities that kills off the very spontaneity, candor, and understanding it pretends to promote. It's an idiom that reduces psychological insight to a collection of standardized observations, that provides a frozen lexicon to deal with an infinite variety of problems." "Only a few missteps jar the play's dreamy atmosphere. Unable to resist knee-jerk references to Freud and Jung, Ms. Zimmerman has her actors spout some psychobabble about myths as public dreams, dreams as private myths, and the like." Amy Gamerman, Theater: A Timely Gift of Timeless Ovid, The Wall Street Journal (New York), Oct 10, 2001. This week's theme: coined words. Sponsors of today's AWAD include NannyTax, Inc., providing tax compliance services to employers of domestic help. For useful information and a free consultation, please visit: http://www.nannytax.com AND Zeus Systems providing content and related services for K-12 math & science and helping clients realize significant savings: http://zeuslearning.com ............................................................................ Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) Subscribe: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html Unsubscribe: http://wordsmith.org/awad/unsubscribe.html Change address: http://wordsmith.org/awad/address-change.html Gift subscription: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/psychobabble.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/psychobabble.ram
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