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Politics and the English Language – George Orwell [Essay]
- christophilus 10mo ago1946. He could have been writing about today. A TLDR: He argues that political language is banal, often couched in pretentious, sophisticated-sounding phrases which amount to nothing, but sound profound to the inattentive listener. Instead, we should communicate clearly and directly. If politicians did this, “…when you make a stupid remark its stupidity will be obvious, even to yourself. Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” And here are his rules to follow: i. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do. iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active. v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.