Length: 420 Words Reading Time: 1 Minute + 40 Seconds
“The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts,” so wrote George Orwell in his small classic entitled, “Politics and the English Language,” first published in 1945. I agree with Mr. Orwell. We are given over to much foolish thinking in America because we have a broken educational system, we have let our institutions become degraded, and we have dumbed down our public discourse. Let me coin a word that I believe captures that result; the word is “emotionalized.” Facts no longer matter, only beliefs and feelings.
Mr. Orwell also wrote the definitive work on the corruption of language and “lying with words” when he described a dystopian world gone mad in his book, “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” written in 1948. The world that Mr. Orwell described in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” can be seen in much of what we experience in today’s America. Mr. Orwell was prescient in his view of the future; he was just off by 30 years or so.
I am a great advocate for the correct use of language because I have written professionally for over 50 years of my adult life, both in the corporate world and after I retired. I believe the proper and correct use of words is critically important to the continuation and survival of our culture. If we misuse words in our daily lives, then the opportunity for misunderstanding is greatly magnified. We lose clarity in our national discourse. Consequently, we cannot agree on a way forward that is in the best interests of our country.
Politicians, journalists, and editorial writers are the biggest offenders in misusing language. Sadly, many citizens in our country misuse words too. We have become a nation that readily accepts euphemisms and what I call smoke-and-mirror words.
I believe we use a significant number of words incorrectly or improperly. The one word that stands out in my mind is the word “pro-choice.” The opposite of this word we use most frequently is the word “pro-life.” I would submit that the correct opposite of “pro-life” must be “pro-death,” if we follow the rigors of logic. It cannot be otherwise. Pro-choice is just the most egregious example of how we abuse our language. There are many such examples of “lying with words” in our society. Just open a newspaper or watch the nightly news. Our abuse of language is a red flag for me. We ignore it at our peril.
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