Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended

meaning Meaning most commonly refers to: * Meaning (linguistics), meaning which is communicated through the use of language * Meaning (philosophy), definition, elements, and types of meaning discussed in philosophy * Meaning (non-linguistic), a general te ...

of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and

ambiguous Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations wikt:plausible#Adjective, plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It ...

language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent usually is connoted), and is accomplished with circumlocution (talking around the subject), the use of jargon (technical language of a profession), and the use of an argot ( ingroup language) of limited communicative value to outsiders. In expository writing, unintentional obfuscation usually occurs in draft documents, at the beginning of composition; such obfuscation is illuminated with

critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis ...

and editorial revision, either by the writer or by an editor. Etymologically, the word ''obfuscation'' derives from the Latin , from ''obfuscāre'' (to darken); synonyms include the words beclouding and abstrusity.

Medical

Doctors are faulted for using jargon to conceal unpleasant facts from a patient; the American author and physician

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

said that medical writing is a "highly skilled, calculated attempt to confuse the reader". The psychologist B. F. Skinner said that medical notation is a form of multiple audience control, which allows the doctor to communicate to the pharmacist things which the patient might oppose if they could understand medical jargon.

Eschew

"Eschew obfuscation", also stated as "eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation", is a humorous fumblerule used by English teachers and professors when lecturing about proper writing techniques. Literally, the phrase means "avoid being unclear" or "avoid being unclear, support being clear", but the use of relatively uncommon words causes confusion in much of the audience (those lacking the vocabulary), making the statement an example of

irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

, and more precisely a heterological phrase. The phrase has appeared in print at least as early as 1959, when it was used as a section heading in a NASA document. An earlier similar phrase appears in

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

's '' Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses'', where he lists rule fourteen of good writing as "eschew

surplusage In jurisprudence, ''surplusage'' is language within a document that has no legal relevance to a cause, and may thus be ignored. Another use of the term is in statutory interpretation Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts i ...

Secure communication

Obfuscation of oral or written communication achieves a degree of secure communication without a need to rely upon technology. This technique is sometimes referred to as "talking around" and is a form of security through obscurity. A notable example of obfuscation of written communication is a message sent by September 11 attacks ringleader Mohamed Atta to other conspirators prior to the attacks occurring: In this obfuscated message, the following code words are believed to exist: * "semester" refers to planned September 11 attacks * "19 confirmations" refers to the

Hijackers in the September 11 attacks The hijackers in the September 11 attacks, who were often referred to as the 9/11 hijackers, were 19 men affiliated with the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda. They hailed from four countries; 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were fro ...

* "faculty of law" refers to a target, the United States Capitol * "faculty of urban planning" refers to a target, the World Trade Center * "faculty of fine arts" refers to a target, the White House * "faculty of engineering" refers to a target, The Pentagon Within the illegal drug trade, obfuscation is commonly used in communication to hide the occurrence of drug trafficking. A common spoken example is "

420 420 may refer to: * 420 (number) * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20 **California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act *AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar * ...

", used as a code word for cannabis, a drug which, despite some recent prominent decriminalization changes, remains illegal in most places. The Drug Enforcement Administration reported in July 2018 a total of 353 different code words used for cannabis.

White box cryptography

In white-box cryptography, obfuscation refers to the protection of cryptographic

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

from extraction when they are under the control of the adversary, e.g., as part of a DRM scheme.Chow S, Eisen P, Johnson H, et al. A white-box DES implementation for DRM applications /Digital Rights Management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2002: 1-15.

Network security

In network security, obfuscation refers to methods used to obscure an attack payload from inspection by network protection systems.

In popular culture

* In

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

, the pigs such as Squealer and Snowball use obfuscation to confuse the other animals with doublespeak in order to prevent any uprisings.

References

External links

* {{Media manipulation Human behavior English phrases Ambiguity Psychological abuse