Politics and the English Language

Eric Blair. As much as any man, he shaped the English language as a whole, as well as supplying vernacular: doublespeak, mindcrime, Big Brother. His work was so salient his name has become a term in and of itself: Orwellian. I believe he was aware of his standing in the world of letters, and he was very conscious of what it means to be a writer. This might be best expressed in the introductory paragraph to his 1945 essay, "Politics and the English Language."

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language -- so the argument runs -- must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.

Modern English is full of lazy idioms and weak writing; a congenital linguistic malaise. Orwell disposed of this poverty with alacrity: dying metaphors, verbal false limbs, meaningless words and pretentious diction were all on his hit list. Take heed, young writers; for when you trot out another tired “throughout all history” phrase, Orwell will be turning in his grave. Big Brother is watching, as it were.