First Blog Assignment

George Orwell made many great points in his "Politics and the English Language" (1946) essay. I was captivated by his simple, clear, easy to understand everyday language. The fact that he was able to draw in my attention, and give me many great examples of his point about bad writing (that I totally agreed with) proves he was a wonderful communicator of the English language. He had me nodding my head and laughing loudly at some of the absurd examples of bad writing that were written by people with respectable titles and positions. I loved his point about them being too lazy to actually figure out what the words meant. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to political "double speak" and felt like I was being bamboozled. But, because I perceived them as being someone with an overall higher ranking in life, I was left feeling inadequate and bewildered. Now I understand that this form of language is meant to confuse and quiet those of us who would like real answers to our questions. What about those who use bad language skills to cover up their own ineptness? To me, that is just sad. If that's all they can muster, I give those prideful enough to hide their ignorance with meaningless words a pass. They probably don't sleep well at night anyway. Let's all be who we are, be honest about what we say, and try to say it plain English (so we don't need a lawyer for interpretation). I believe Orwell was right when he said the English language is in trouble. Too much dishonesty, too many cover ups. I also believe he was right in saying that clear thinking "is the next step to political regeneration" (para.2). Surely clear thinking leads to clear understanding, and a natural outgrowth of that would be clear communication. I don't think all politicians hide behind bad language. I do believe some of them who are less ethical and misguided use it as protection against their dishonest motives, giving them time to figure out their next move or vote. I also agree with Orwells contention that this problem is reversible. Orwells essay has inspired me to pay attention to the way I communicate. I appreciate knowing that smaller words are best, and that many words are not better, but simply too many.