Politics And The English Language
If George Orwell, author of ?Politics and the English Language? read Tom Verduccis? essay ?Three Dimensional?, he would argue with Tom Verdiccis? style. Tom Verdicci breaks several of Orwell?s rules. The rules broken are; (1) Never use a long word where a short one will do; (2) Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
The first rule broken is ?Never use a long word where a short one will do.? Verdicci tends to puzzle the reader by using words such as ?captaincy, crispness, deficiencies, and competent. Orwell states: ?A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: What am I trying to say? What words will express it? What image or idiom will make it clearer? Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?? In each sentence which Tom Verducci has used these words, it seems like he didn?t bother asking himself these four simple questions. Consequently, Tom Verducci has broken one of Orwell?s rules.
Verducci goes on to break a second rule, which states: ?Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. For example in his essay, there is a passage written in foreign language that states ?Blue Jays first baseman hits like a bouncer but schmoozes like a maitre d?. This phrase relates to another rule of Orwell?s. Orwell states: ?In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literacy criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking of meaning.? Thus, this phrase is a prime example, which breaks Orwells rules in two ways.
Overall, the essay written by Tom Verducci is well done. But to George Orwells expectations, it is breaking several of his rules. Both readers agree on the fact that asking themselves a question, which is: ?Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly,? is agreed upon....
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