Orwell and English

Are we really killing the English language like Orwell says we are? Yes; the language has been butchered due to the need of “sophistication” and “Correctness” in the way that people use the written word.  Is it our generation’s fault? Yes and no; yes because we are the ones that are continuing this trend and tradition; no because we did not start it. This need of big words, whether they have meaning or not, began with earlier generations. They, for some reason, felt the need to re-create the way the written word was used. They needed to make words bigger, make words harder to write and pronounce, all in the effort of sounding more intelligent and more sophisticated. As a result, this is how our current generation has been taught to write; big words.

Can this be reversed? Orwell believes it so. He even outlines 6 simple rules for us to use in our future writing endeavors, rules that will help us eliminate the need for big nonsensical words in our writing. These are as follows: “1) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print; 2) Never use a longs word where a short word will do; 3) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out; 4) Never use the passive where you can use the active; 5) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; 6) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.” Maybe these rules will help, maybe they won’t. I do have to agree with Orwell; I do believe that following these rules will help to make the written word more fluent and have more meaning than it does now.