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Tactical Language has specific meaning for the police, and Tactical Warfare has another possibly/suspiciously related meaning for the military [separately or equally?], with known use/abuse in laws, and seemingly limited definition.

(A) https://www.google.com/search?q=%22tactical+language%22+police+meaning is the best I can do because Wiktionary and actual Encyclopedias/Dictionaries lack clear explanation even though U.S. law seems to magically/perfectly understand how to use the word.

Snippet provided officially/algorithmically by Google search results as first result at top of page:

"Though many police officers may use profanity (sometimes referred to as “tactical language”) as an additional use of force tool, its use may lead to increased risk to the officer by way of subject retaliation or backlash from the public due to a perception that the officer is “out of control” (Baseheart & Cox, 1993)." —Christina L. Patton, PhD https://www.apadivisions.org/division-18/publications/newsletters/public-service/2018/01/police-profanity#:~:text=Though%20many%20police%20officers%20may,Baseheart%20%26%20Cox%2C%201993) (archive of the doctor's quote from the American Psychological Association: http://web.archive.org/web/20200916104659/https://www.apadivisions.org/division-18/publications/newsletters/public-service/2018/01/police-profanity).

(B) The linking of https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tactical_warfare&redirect=no (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tactical_warfare&oldid=240056859) would say Tactical Warfare means Military Tactics. Based on the #REDIRECT function setting pointing/defining one phrase to the other there which is rather etymological?

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  • I've no idea exactly what you think "tactical warfare" means (it sounds to me like the "strategic / planning" side of things, as opposed to operational warfare actually implementing the tactics). But if "tactical language" is supposed to mean "using profanity", it's not obvious to me there should be any "etymological" connection between the two usages. Except insofar as "tactical" seems to be being treated as the new buzzword.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 11:19
  • @fu Is en.wikipedia.org/w/… okay as a reference point? I did not know til you asked. I edited english.stackexchange.com/revisions/546796/5 just now to use that $REDIR for proving.
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 11:35
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    Perhaps "tactical language" is just weaselly politician-speak for "unfortunately, the troops used foul language" in the same way "tactical withdrawal" means "unfortunately, the troops ran away from the battle". In which case your first cited example could be seen as "tongue-in-cheek" (a light-hearted admission that cops sometimes get worked up themselves, and use unprofessional language).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 11:55
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    I’m voting to close this question because it is looking at jargon / precising-defined terminology outside the scope of standard English usage. In OP's words. 'Encyclopedias/Dictionaries lack clear explanation even though U.S. law seems to magically/perfectly understand how to use the word [term].'
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 13:33
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    This use of the term tactical language is a part of a broader tendency in the U.S. to use tactical X (e.g. tactical gear, tactical training), in police-related contexts, to mean some very specific kind of X, even though, going by the dictionary definition, tactical X means whatever kind of X fits the plans for achieving some medium-term goals; the dictionary meaning of tactical is entirely open as to what kind of X will that turn out to be in a particular case. It is well within the scope of this site to seek an explanation of such narrowing of the meaning of a word.
    – jsw29
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 16:50

1 Answer 1

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Sort of, maybe.

I haven't heard of "tactical language" being used as a euphemism for "profanity" before, but I think there might possibly be a connection between it and the military meaning of "tactical".

"Tactical" is the adjective version of the word "tactic", which refers to a technique or plan used to gain an advantage in a particular engagement (as opposed to "strategy" which refers to a technique or plan used to gain an advantage over a series of engagements). For instance, you might have a "tactical withdrawal" where soldiers withdraw from a particular location in order to gain an advantage over their enemies, or to mitigate an advantage their enemies have over them.

In this particular case, regarding "tactical language", a police officer might make a decision to use a particular form of language in order to gain an advantage over a person, for instance, by speaking in an authoritative tone to gain compliance, or swearing at them to try to intimidate them, or to anger and incite them into taking illogical actions.

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  • Feel free to correct me, I'm curious as well, google.com/search?q=%22tactical+language%22+profanity suggests that (suggested by sheer search result count, as being a majority of the first page results, as highlighted and bolded by the search engine), with direct quotes to multiple separate research papers defining, most search results saying = "Tactical Language" = profanity = cursing.
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 13:48
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    Sure, but my impression is that the euphemism arose from the idea that the use of profanity was a tactical choice to gain an advantage - the first link I saw in that search (apadivisions.org/division-18/publications/newsletters/…) discusses them using it as a tool in the spectrum of the use of force.
    – nick012000
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 13:51
  • k, interesting @nic. So "Use of Force" would tie to Police Etymology/Terminology if so, and is that a direct extension of Military Etymology/Terminology? I do not mean to be specious, I actually am not sure. (I note en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_force — going your direction — says "Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military personnel on guard duty. " [bold code quote formatting my own] so that might mean they're related, how they're formed?)
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 14:01
  • @prosody-GabVereableContext I believe the idea of a "use of force continuum" was originally a law enforcement term, rather than a military one. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_force_continuum
    – nick012000
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 14:23
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    What if, in some situation, the use of ultra-polite language would be the best way to gain advantage? Going by the dictionary meaning of the word tactical, in that situation, the ultra-polite language would be the tactical one, but that's not how the word tactical is nowadays used in the police-related contexts. The OP's question can be reformulated as: how did the meaning of tactical language get to be fixed as profanity, rather than whatever language fits the tactics?
    – jsw29
    Commented Sep 16, 2020 at 20:48

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