Politics and the English Language Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
"Politics and the English Language" (1946) is one of George Orwell's most famous essays. He examines political writing (and writing in general) in English, diagnoses its serious faults, and suggests remedies. In particular, Orwell believes that writers should:- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which is quite often seen in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- Always cut a word out if it is possible to do so.
- Never use the passive voice where the active voice will do.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon if an everyday English equivalent will suffice.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
- Consider for instance some comfortable English professor defending Russian totalitarianism. He cannot say outright, "I believe in killing off your opponents when you can get good results by doing so." Probably, therefore, he will say something like this:
- While freely conceding that the Soviet regime exhibits certain features which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the Russian people have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement.
- While freely conceding that the Soviet regime exhibits certain features which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the Russian people have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement.
- I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
- Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.
See also
External links
- Original text: (all identical)
This is an Article on Politics and the English Language. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Politics and the English Language