George Orwell - Essay - Politics and the English Language.pdf

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1、Work:Essays:PoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage(May1945)MostpeoplewhobotherwiththematteratallwouldadmitthattheEnglishlanguageisinabadway,butitisgenerallyassumedthatwecannotbyconsciousactiondoanythingaboutit.Ourcivilizationisdecadentandourlanguage--sotheargumentr

2、uns--mustinevitablyshareinthegeneralcollapse.Itfollowsthatanystruggleagainsttheabuseoflanguageisasentimentalarchaism,likepreferringcandlestoelectriclightorhansomcabstoaeroplanes.Underneaththisliesthehalf-consciousbeliefthatlanguageisanaturalgrowthandnotani

3、nstrumentwhichweshapeforourownpurposes.Now,itisclearthatthedeclineofalanguagemustultimatelyhavepoliticalandeconomiccauses:itisnotduesimplytothebadinfluenceofthisorthatindividualwriter.Butaneffectcanbecomeacause,reinforcingtheoriginalcauseandproducingthesam

4、eeffectinanintensifiedform,andsoonindefinitely.Amanmaytaketodrinkbecausehefeelshimselftobeafailure,andthenfailallthemorecompletelybecausehedrinks.ItisratherthesamethingthatishappeningtotheEnglishlanguage.Itbecomesuglyandinaccuratebecauseourthoughtsarefooli

5、sh,buttheslovenlinessofourlanguagemakesiteasierforustohavefoolishthoughts.Thepointisthattheprocessisreversible.ModernEnglish,especiallywrittenEnglish,isfullofbadhabitswhichspreadbyimitationandwhichcanbeavoidedifoneiswillingtotakethenecessarytrouble.Ifonege

6、tsridofthesehabitsonecanthinkmoreclearly,andtothinkclearlyisanecessaryfirststeptowardpoliticalregeneration:sothatthefightagainstbadEnglishisnotfrivolousandisnottheexclusiveconcernofprofessionalwriters.Iwillcomebacktothispresently,andIhopethatbythattimethem

7、eaningofwhatIhavesaidherewillhavebecomeclearer.Meanwhile,herearefivespecimensoftheEnglishlanguageasitisnowhabituallywritten.Thesefivepassageshavenotbeenpickedoutbecausetheyareespeciallybad--IcouldhavequotedfarworseifIhadchosen--butbecausetheyillustratevari

8、ousofthementalvicesfromwhichwenowsuffer.Theyarealittlebelowtheaverage,butarefairlyrepresentativeexamples.InumberthemsothatIcanreferbacktothemwhennecessary:1.Iamnot,indeed,surewhetheritisnottruetosaythattheMil