A review by ed_moore
Politics and the English Language by George Orwell

informative slow-paced

2.5

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable” 

Orwell’s essay ‘Politics and the English Language’ is his attack on the use of idiom and lack of clarity in political speech. He argues that the language is decaying due to a prevalence of foolish thoughts, this creating foolish language of which causes a cycle allowing for further foolish thoughts. Ultimately he argues against political jargon and for not speaking rather than saying something when one is unclear on the definition. He establishes key rules for writing and tears apart examples of writing from others, yet other than the debate about the unreliability of political language I am not sure how much I agree with Orwell in this essay, nor if he even follows his own rules in his works.