Politics and the English Language

George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language was written in 1946 and published in the journal *Horizon*. It remains one of his most influential works, exploring the relationship between political manipulation and the decay of language - wikipedia.org

https://david.vision.fish/assets/Books/B09NQGLGHP/242%2520-%2520Politics%2520and%2520the%2520English%2520Language.mp3 Politics and the English Language by George Orwell

Orwell argues that unclear, inflated, and formulaic language allows politicians and bureaucrats to conceal truth and justify wrongdoing. When words lose precision, he warns, thought itself becomes corrupted — and political deceit thrives.

The essay dissects examples of bad writing, showing how vague metaphors and pretentious diction create an atmosphere where lies sound respectable. He offers six simple rules for writing clearly: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 1. Never use a long word where a short one will do 1. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out 1. Never use the passive where you can use the active 1. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent 1. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous