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. Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of
As society begins to change so do other aspects that are within that particular society. Within the articles “Why Good English is Good for You” by John Simon, “Do You Speak American” by Robert MacNeil, and “Lost in America” by Douglas McGrey, each author gives their own insight as to how social changes have impacted the language within America, as well as the implications of those changes. While they each argue different views on how those implications have benefitted or hindered the language, they all agree on the fact that the language is ever-changing.
George Orwell, in an essay from Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays titled “Politics and the English Language” (1950), argues that the English language, through a cyclical process of sloven language and foolish thought, has become “ugly and inaccurate.” He supports his argument by using expert opinion, metaphors, and historical context. Orwell’s purpose is to demonstrate the debasement of the English language in order to prompt writers to make a conscious change in their writing . He adopts an informal tone (“Look back throughout this essay, and for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against”) for writers in a time of political turnover and rising superpowers.
Robert MacNeil, a writer of many great historical articles, was once, a journalist and news anchor. In his article, “English Belongs to Everybody”, MacNeil responds to the fear of many Americans who believe that Spanish will soon sweep over English. He argues that English can not be diluted by any other language as “it has prospered and grown because it was able to accept and absorb changes,”
In “Politics and The English Language ”, George Orwell describes how lazy and imprecise phrases, stale images and jargon declining modern English. According to Orwell the decline of a language have political and economic causes. Orwell also claims that the reason behind bad writing is corrupt thinking, which later makes a person to attempt more palatable corrupt acts. Orwell states, “Political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.” which explains that sometimes corrupted government and politicians use language and media as a strategy to oppress citizens by creating false tension. Most of the time politicians try to hide their flaws by telling something irrelevant things which hides the true meaning. Orwell identify one method corrupt writers use is ‘Pretentious Diction’ which represents uses of vague words such political, economical, scientific and sociological words, which are increased in slovenliness and vagueness and hard for general people to understand. And they use it to confuse people and hide some real facts about a situation or mislead people.
George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know
Politics is the never ending power struggle Americans know all too well. It’s a childish game full of lies, deceit, and beating around the bush where those involved find themselves having to simultaneously put on a smile for the camera. In the writing, Politics and the English Language, the author, George Orwell, discusses why he believes politics in fact are destroying the English language. Throughout the reading, the author makes many great points; however, his tone is interpreted as extreme, and at times, he comes off as radical when defending his claim.
“Others among you, perhaps fewer in number, will say to yourselves: quite so, there is such a thing as Standard English, or purity of speech, or correctness of expression- something worth safeguarding and fostering; but how the devil is one to accomplish that under the prevailing conditions: in a democratic society full of minorities that have their own dialects or linguistic preferences, and in a world in which television, advertising, and other mass media manage daily to corrupt the language
Using the English language effectively can be difficult at times. You must consider many factors: who your audience is, what kind of tone you wish to convey, the message you are attempting to get across, and any kind of lasting effect wished upon a reader’s mind. After reading through two essays, Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” and Brockenbrough’s “Does IM Make U Dum?” each reveals different mindsets about the advancement and usage of the English language. On one hand, Orwell seems to advocate the simplification of speech and writing. Rather than seemingly sagacious phrases, useless terms, and
Language is all around us, it is how we communicate with one another, it brings meaning to literature, and is cemented into our culture. Walt Whitman, a famous American novelist from the 19 century, highlights the effects of language on the American population in his essay, Slang in America. He focuses on positive aspect of slang, how we adapt slang into the english language, as if it is second nature to use, giving a deeper meaning to everyday phrases and words. By contrast, Politics and the English Language, by George Orwell, does not highlight the positive side to slang, instead looking at how authors have started to write with no purpose, no meaning in their texts. George Orwell, in Politics and the English Language, creates an connotation between ideas and an appeal to logos to convince the reader that writers have started to write meaningless pieces of work and could have potentially negative effects on the American people. Compared to Walt Whitman’s use of an unifying tone and an appeal to pathos in Slang in America, that highlights the positive effects of the English language on the American people.
The English language, although used by almost all across the United Kingdom, has been mutated and altered in so many ways that sometimes we cannot even understand it ourselves.
The good may become the bad and words, like people, are modestly the victims of circumstance. It may seem useless to track, study, and observe the origins of language and the buildings blocks that comprise each phrase, but in studying dialect or linguistics we can trace and assign the historical path or human nature. Language, in some form or another has been with the human race from the beginning of time. The ways in which civilizations have communicated can be reflected and understood through words, as if they were taking photographs of the things they witnessed the whole time. Language as whole is like an immortal being, omnipresent throughout all human
In "politics and the English language," author George Orwell in his essay, argues how modern-day English is inaccurate, flawed and filled with careless terminology and bad habits. Orwell furthermore exposes this notion of inadequate English as a tool that is used in political language to manipulate, confuse and alter how a person may think. His main goal is to correct this dull way of thinking and to pay attention furthermore analyze what we write and read to guide ourselves away from this writing. Another important idea that Orwell discusses is that this English language shifts to " ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts"(1).The essence
The Impact of Degrading Language “Words are the central tool of education. Whether written or spoken, words can elucidate, inform, and inspire. But they can also scare, humiliate, and disempower” (Wessler). Language is crucial within human lives. It has multiple uses such as eliminating confusion, exchanging information and communicating instructions.
In order to send his readers an underlying message that the decay of the English language is essentially everyone’s fault, Orwell takes a risk transitioning from the first person point of view to the second person point of view when discussing the use of ready-made phrases because he creates a demanding tone in order to pull readers into his argument and make them feel accused for pertaining to the issue. His purpose of transitioning his point of view is to establish a specific connection between the reader and the narrator. He desires that the readers understand his argument about politics being a connection to the decline of the English language, but simultaneously, he wants to send an important message that every individual pertains to the
According to Orwell, Modern English is full of bad habits caused by political and economic motives. These habits are reversible. Orwell complaints against the problems of the English Language in the essay, “Politics and the English