Politics and the English Language by George Orwell

Style as a political Issue

Orwell pays careful attention to style—that is, how a person says something: the tone, syntax, flow of sentences, metaphors, and choice of words. The stylistic choices a writer selects affects the message they're conveying and how it is interpreted by the reader.

Intellectual Laziness Dangers

Orwell explains that lazily written work enables governments to control citizens through deceptive messaging. This is because lazy writing leads to the reader lacking critical thinking about the intended message.

Honesty and Concision

Orwell argues specifically for a writing process that encourages concision and honesty—that is, using as few words as possible to get a point across in a truthful manner.

Linguistic Writing

Politics

Honesty and Concision

Individuality

Laziness

1

What I am trying to say?

2

What words will express it?

3

What image or idiom will make it clearer?

4

Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

5

Could I put it more shortly?

6

Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

Quote 1

“In our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing. Where it is not true, it will generally be found that the writer is some kind of rebel, expressing his private opinions, and not a ‘party line.”(Orwell 8)

This quote emphasizes the point about independent thinking. He says that the rare cases of "good" political writing are also cases of independent thinking, which become interpreted as rebelliousness.

Quote 2

“In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.”(Orwell 8)

Explains that a critique of language is a political critique, and a necessary one for cutting through mindless and dishonest ideas.

Quote 3

"Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration."(Orwell 9)

Explains that writers who are not lazy can more effectively educate about political ideas without misinforming their audience; reinventing perspectives concerning politics.

1

Never use a metaphor, simile, or another figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3

If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4

Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5

Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6

Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.

Pretentious Diction: Words which are used to make a statement sound more impressive and intellectual. The result, in general, is an increase in slovenliness and vagueness.

Example: "It would perhaps be advantageous for us to perambulate the periphery of this verdant enclosure"

Meaningless Words: When words such as romantic, human and dead are used in art or literary criticisms. It is confusing to the reader to tell whether the critic is saying something positive about their work or something negative. This can be seen in political language, where the word either has no meaning in the context or it has a secret meaning, which only the author can identify. This increases the messiness in written works.

Example: Words like social justice, bigot, xenophobe, racist, fascist, misogynist, socialist, Dreamer, snowflake, liberal, conservative, and democracy. All these words have controversial meanings and are used dishonestly with intent to deceive.

Operators/False Limbs: Intended to avoid the effort in picking out proper verbs and nouns and including extra syllables to give it more symmetry. These eliminate the use of simple verbs and instead a verb becomes a phrase, made up of a noun or adjective.

Example: Instead of "prove unacceptable" say "it won't work".

Dead Metaphor: Metaphors with loss of vividness and imagery that have no creative and unique power. Usually a result of laziness to create new individual phrases; showcases the lack of interest the writer invests in their work.

Example: "Time is running out". Originally created in reference to the sand in an hourglass now is used to indicate time is limited.

Terms liberal and conservative are meaningless words

Author should ask themselves if it can be shortened and made more concise.