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George Orwell's Writing Critique

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When reading George Orwell’s essay “Politics and English Language,” Orwell is saying that modern written English is a bad habit because, when we write we use dying metaphors and meaningless words because we overuse words and we use words that do not mean what we are trying to say. By getting rid of these habits we are able to think more clearly. According to Orwell, a dying metaphor is one which has become so over-used, it is considered unfashionable. Orwell writes “Some metaphors now current have been twisted out of their original meaning without those who use them even being aware of the fact” (Orwell, 2). Here Orwell is explaining how many of the metaphors used are used without any knowledge of their meaning which show that the writer is not interested in what they are writing. The metaphors written today have lost their meaning and the people that use these metaphors do not even know that they are using it in the wrong context. Another language trick Orwell speaks on is meaningless words. Orwell example is “When one critic writes, ‘The outstanding feature of Mr. X's work is its living quality,’ while another writes, ‘The immediately striking thing about Mr. X's work is its peculiar deadness,’ the reader accepts this as a simple difference opinion. If words like black and white were involved, instead of the jargon words dead and living, he would see at once that language was being used in an improper way” (Orwell, 2). When talking about meaningless words he is talking about the use of jargon words such as the ones used in the quote “living and dead” instead of using words that are simple and to the point. People that see living and dead may not notice that the words used are not clear words. Political language is can also be used to view meaningless words, Orwell writes “Many political words are similarly abused. The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desi

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