Word salad

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A cloth embroidered by a person with schizophrenia
We control what
you think with

Language
Icon language.svg
Said and done
Jargon, buzzwords, slogans
The film is nothing more than the cart issues, wishes ramp and that lashbone, be hydrodash-tower, and cramp seven lash. Milbord zakt feebled-seven, tilsubatidemisemistupan.
—Terry Bruge-Hiplo, Movie Reviews[1]

Word salad is a term applied to rants and ramblings that completely fly off the rails of normal grammar and meaning.

Sometimes it is technobabble too shabby to look even superficially convincing, but sometimes it doesn't obviously aim at anything at all. Sometimes it is calm, sometimes it is highly emotional. The term is also pejoratively used for statements void of any meaning, even when grammatically correct.

Not your typical deli salad[edit]

The most obvious example, of course, is the Time Cube website. Many other people manage to diverge into what "looks like" a human language, but on deeper exploration (called "reading") proves to be utter nonsense.

Someone's rant may be called "word salad" if their beliefs are so extreme (or their word choice and grammar is so absolutely godawful) that their screed appears nonsensical to the average person. Incels and members of the autistic dark web are examples of people whose manifestos may be dubbed word salad.

The New Age world is also famous for its many channeled world salads, in which various spiritual beings or often suspiciously human-looking aliens explain the secrets of the universe or just deliver loving pep talks, often mashing up all manner of deepity and technobabble and bold claims and predictions.

Mental disorders[edit]

If a usually coherent person begins speaking in word salad, this is usually a sign they need to see a doctor, sometimes urgently. Word salad (schizophasia)Wikipedia can be a sign of:[2]

Toxic word salads[edit]

"Word salad" can also colloquially refer to a type of gaslighting in which an abuser jumps rapidly from one topic to the next, making many accusations and moving on before the target can defend themselves.[5][6] The goal is to deflect, confuse, and silence. While this is frequently described as an issue in abusers who have narcissistic personality disorder, any abuser (regardless of diagnosis) is capable of doing this.

This is different from typical word salad because the abuser's misuse of language is strategic. They are using it to browbeat someone, not attempting to earnestly express themselves (or just goof off).

Just having fun[edit]

Word salad generators are sometimes written by beginning programmers for the sake of amusement.

Examples[edit]

Some phrases could be cool band names

  • The enormous bingos annihilate overwrought asterisks
  • Her sterile Popes oscillate seaworthy glycerins
  • My folksy cauldrons swim idiotic salad forks
  • His grisly arcades quantify no-balls crab cakes
  • Their organic thumbtacks duel forbidden squids
  • Full of sport mind & luxury feeling super potential winter wheel Iver
  • Just a roller skate grand touring. All over the physical ironic power

Quantum[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Quantum woo
  • Quantum energy vibration frequencies
  • Spiritual quantum energy fluctuations
  • Quantum crystal vibration auras

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]