Adspeak

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The distinctive wording and jargon used in advertisements to persuade consumers to buy a product or service
2. Persuasive, upbeat phrasing typical of marketing copy that is crafted to sell goods to the public
3. The stylized vocabulary and slogans characteristic of commercial promotion aimed at attracting customers

Etymology: "Adspeak" is a compound built from "ad," meaning advertisement, and "-speak," the suffix that turns a jargon or style of talk into a word of its own. The "-speak" element traces back through the Old English "sprecan" to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to speak," so the new word is essentially "advertising talk." The model for it is "Newspeak," the invented language in George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four," which gave English the pattern of coining "-speak" words for the distinctive vocabulary of a group or institution. The suffix has since been applied to many kinds of jargon, and "adspeak" marks the language of advertising in particular: the slogans, superlatives and breezy phrasing that marketers use. The term is a clear case of a formation built on a familiar pattern rather than a word with a long independent history, so its interest lies mainly in the way "-speak" grew into a productive suffix after Orwell's novel.

Synonyms: advertising jargon