Re-reading Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" [1] a few months ago showed me how often I speak imprecisely or use too many words. Often I use more wor

Re-reading Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" [1] a few months ago showed me how often I speak imprecisely or use too many words. Often I use more words than are necessary, only to say nothing. The purpose of words is to express ideas, but I often catch myself using words to obscure my thoughts and intentions rather than to share them. Worse than too many words are imprecise words. Words like "stuff", "things", "generally", and many others, simplify ideas to vague caricatures of themselves. Worse still, is that imprecision corrupts thinking. If someone cannot precisely express their ideas, perhaps they have none to express. For instance, I have heard statements like "things aren't the same as they used to be". If I ask what isn't the same as it used to be, I receive vague responses that repeat what was previously said, rather than give clarity. Now, when I catch myself using similar phrases, I pause and ask myself, "what am I really trying to say?" Sometimes I find myself not actually intending to say anything - just something. This practice challenges me to think, rather than to parrot mindless responses that tell others nothing about what I am thinking at all. [1]: https://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/composition/orwell.htm https://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/composition/orwell.htm