Saturday, February 4, 2017

The Bad English Language

Image result for verbal false limbs
George Orwell puts forth that the English language is used in a variety of incorrect manners. He states common mistakes such as dying metaphors, verbal false limbs, pretentious diction, and meaningless words. For instance, verbal false limbs is the inclusion of clutter. It makes it difficult to pinpoint verbs and nouns and causes a lack of symmetry. Not only does he point out flaws in a writer’s writing, but also he points out what should or should not be done. In this case, Orwell suggests that keeping the idea simple is important as getting straight to the point. He claims to avoid the use of unfamiliar words, don't try too hard sound sophisticated otherwise, the message would be unclear, use active voice in place of passive voice, and if it's possible to cut out a word, cut it out.
This specifically applies to political speeches and writing; some ways bad language is applied: defending the indefensible, covering up lies, and the influence of language on thought (vice versa). Orwell provides an example of how defending the indefensible is used; he states “Consider for instance some comfortable English teacher defending totalitarianism. He can not outright, ‘I believe in killing off your opponents when you can get good results by doing so’. Therefore, he will say something like this: ...we must agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition”, this goes far to show how words can be twisted to defend the wrong, totalitarianism.  
In other means, politicians use similar tactics when presenting their ideas to the population. Donald trump is guilty of using vague and unprofessional language, “It’s gonna be great” or “In the near future”. However, bad language isn't only limited to politicians because it's implemented into our daily conversations. The saying “You are what you eat” goes hand in hand with “You write how you speak”. Students sample essays have shown an excessive use of clutter; they overemphasize with many transition words. All in all, nothing is perfect. Orwell is making an attempt to improve writing not perfect it.

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