Editing Obfuscation

{{Short description|Intentionally confusing wording to confuse people apart from an intended audience}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
'''Obfuscation''' is the [[wikt:obscure#Verb|obscuring]] of the intended [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]] of [[communication]] by making the message difficult to understand, usually with [[mental confusion|confusing]] and [[ambiguity|ambiguous]] language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or [[intention|intentional]] (although intent usually is [[connotation|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]] ([[ingroups and outgroups|ingroup]] language) of limited communicative value to outsiders.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', Tom McArthur, Ed., (1992) p. 543.</ref>

In [[expository writing]], unintentional obfuscation usually occurs in [[draft document]]s, at the beginning of [[composition (language)|composition]]; such obfuscation is illuminated with [[critical thinking]] and editorial revision, either by the writer or by an editor. Etymologically, the word ''obfuscation'' derives from the Latin {{lang|la| obfuscatio}}, from [[wikt:obfuscate#Etymology|''obfuscāre'' (to darken)]]; synonyms include the words [[wikt:beclouding|beclouding]] and [[wikt:abstrusity#Noun|abstrusity]].

==Medical==
Doctors are faulted for using [[jargon]] to conceal unpleasant facts from a patient; the American author and physician [[Michael Crichton]] 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.<ref>Skinner, B.F. (1957) ''Verbal Behavior'' p. 232</ref>

==Eschew==
"Eschew obfuscation", also stated as "eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation", is a humorous [[fumblerules|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]], 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.<ref>United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, ''NASA Technical Memorandum'' (1959), p. 171.</ref>

An earlier similar phrase appears in [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses]]'', where he lists rule fourteen of good writing as "eschew [[surplusage]]".

==Secure communication==
{{Main|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:<ref>{{Cite news|title=Virtual soldiers in a holy war|url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5122300|access-date=2020-06-25|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en}}</ref>

{{Quote
|text=The semester begins in three more weeks. We've obtained 19 confirmations for studies in the faculty of law, the faculty of urban planning, the faculty of fine arts and the faculty of engineering.
|author=[[Mohamed Atta]]
}} 

In this obfuscated message, the following [[Code word (figure of speech)|code words]] are believed to exist:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sirohi, Dr M. N.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/920167233|title=Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare.|date=2015|publisher=Vij Books India Private Limited|isbn=978-81-931422-1-9|location=New Delhi|oclc=920167233}}</ref>
* "semester" refers to planned [[September 11 attacks]]
* "19 confirmations" refers to the [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks]]
* "faculty of law" refers to a target, the [[United States Capitol]]
* "faculty of urban planning" refers to a target, the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|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 (cannabis culture)|420]]", used as a code word for [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]], a drug which, despite some recent prominent [[Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States|decriminalization]]  changes, [[Legality of cannabis|remains illegal in most places]]. The [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] reported in July 2018 a total of 353 different code words used for [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel|url=https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-022-18.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/DIR-022-18.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=2020-06-26|website=Drug Enforcement Administration}}</ref>

==White box cryptography==
{{Black-box}}
{{main | white-box cryptography }}
In white-box cryptography, obfuscation refers to the protection of cryptographic [[Key (cryptography)|keys]] from extraction when they are under the control of the adversary, e.g., as part of a [[Digital rights management|DRM]] scheme.<ref>Chow S, Eisen P, Johnson H, et al. A white-box DES implementation for DRM applications[M]//Digital Rights Management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2002: 1-15.</ref>

==Network security==
{{Main|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]], the pigs such as Squealer and Napoleon use obfuscation to confuse the other animals with [[doublespeak]] in order to prevent any uprisings.
*In the British Sitcom [[Yes Minister]], the character [[Sir Humphrey Appleby]] often uses obfuscation for comedic effect while trying to confuse and prevent [[Jim Hacker]] from taking charge.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Black box]]
* [[Cant (language)]]
* [[Code word (figure of speech)]]
* [[Doublespeak]]
* [[Fallacy of quoting out of context]]
* [[Fuzzy concept]]
* [[Jargon]]
* [[Mind games]]
* [[Obfuscated code]]
* [[Obscurantism]]
* [[Plain English]]
* [[Politics and the English Language]]
* [[Propaganda]]
* [[Steganography]]
* [[Verbosity]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary}}
*{{Commonscatinline}}

{{Fallacies}}
{{Media manipulation}}

[[Category:Obfuscation| ]]
[[Category:Human behavior]]
[[Category:English phrases]]
[[Category:Ambiguity]]
[[Category:Psychological abuse]]