Gaslighting
On several occasions I have come across the term "gaslighting" but have always struggled to know what it means and whether or not I should add it to my own vocabulary. I have been doing a little research. The term is connected with a 1944 film called "Gaslight" starring Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton and Ingrid Bergman as his his wife - Paula Alquist Anton. Gregory secretly searches in the attic of their inherited London home for precious jewellery and when he puts the gaslight on up there, the lights in the rest of the house go noticeably dimmer. When Paula mentions this Gregory dismisses her claims as nonsensical and this becomes the core of his campaign to make her think she is going crazy. The term "gaslighting" is not in fact used in the film but it has come to be associated with psychological manipulation - undermining somebody's self-confidence and cause them to question their sense of reality. You know when you look for a word in Goog...