How much did the Cultural Revolution change the Chinese language on the mainland? I've always had an inkling that the Cultural Revolution drastically changed the Chinese language (think: TW 国语 vs. mainland 普通话). [Some even claim TW doesn't even have the concept of 书面语 pk 口语, it's not hard to buy into either].
Then today I came across these two entries in《四川方言词典》

盖盖
gai4 gai4-1
(名) ①盖子。②(～儿) 小盖子。③(～儿) &lt;粗&gt;指男朋友。(文革期间产生的新义，与*盒盒儿相对。)

and

钢鞭
gang1 bian1
(名) 比喻能置对方于死地的证据(文革期间产生的新义) ▷老人把刀交给公安人员说 ▷“这是我那逆子犯罪的～!”

Both specifically mention: 文革期间产生的新义.
Obviously there were changed to the Chinese language, including topolects, during the Cultural Revolution but to what extent?

A second thought: if intellectuals were attacked wouldn't that lead to a automatic dumbing-down of language, to avoid being attacked?
From what I understand, there are indeed some new words created, or given a new meaning, during the years of cultural revolution. However, those words quickly lose their popularity soon after the arrest of "Gang of Four". Actually, as someone who is born many years after that period, I can hardly think of any word that is still used in the ordinary context, be it oral or written language. And even the Communist Party government tries to avoid using those words, due to the special meanings attached to them. So you can hardly see them apart from the history book, or people telling stories of that era.

However, there are a few exceptions in the recent years, notably the use of "篡党夺权" from the remarks by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.[1][2] And there has been a rise in the use of "伟大领袖" in local newspapers as well.

For a comprehensive list of new words or words given a new meaning during the cultural revolution, I've found a paper from search engine here. But it's in Chinese, and it also requires purchasing to read further from page 1.



As to the difference between TW国语 and mainland普通话, they are completely irrelated to the cultural revolution.