Kathleen's Reviews > Politics and the English Language

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.”

I didn’t know what to expect from this essay going into it, and thought Orwell would be calling me on my grammar. Far from it. This is really about clear, honest, thinking.

Anyone who reads or listens to the news knows how often the same phrases are used, over and over and over again until they are meaningless. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who has stopped in the middle of an article or news commentary and said to myself, “Wait, does he or she even know what that word means?”

Sure, many writers intentionally mislead us, but Orwell explains how this kind of writing can occur from laziness--letting phrases pop in our minds instead of coming up with true ones. Whether purposeful or not, this type of writing (especially the amount of it we consume on a daily basis now) can give a dangerous vagueness to our thinking.

“… the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”

He offers practical suggestions though, and hope. He ends the essay with six rules, and my favorite is his first one: “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.”

You can read it here: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-...