Posts Tagged politics

Politics and the English Language, Rule 5

Rule 5: Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Nobody likes a know-it-all. For convenience’s sake, let’s refer to all language that may baffle your readers as “jargon.” Orwell feels that using jargon is “never” a good idea. In the best case, Read the full article…

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Politics and the English Language, Rule 4

Rule 4: “Never use the passive where you can use the active.” For most people, identifying passive voice is like finding a dangling participle in a metaphorical haystack. Let’s look at an example: Active voice: Andy embraced Vivian. Passive voice: Vivian was embraced by Andy. Not only does the active voice usually require fewer words (making Read the full article…

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Politics and the English Language, Rule 2

This post is part of a series dedicated to George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language. Rule 2: “Never use a long word where a short one will do.” There is an important nuance to this rule: Orwell urges for truth through clarity, but not at the expense of the message. He is not Read the full article…

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Politics and the English Language, Rule 1

George Orwell rocks. Learn why you should avoid trite, hackneyed language in your writing.

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