National Novel Generation Month, 2023 Entry
I've not been especially inspired this year. Here's what I did:
I created a list of misspelled words using the GitHub Typo Corpus, using just the English entries. The code is in misspellings.py. I then used this list to convert a text file into a misspelled version of itself, using rewrite_with_misspellings.py.
The source text I used was George Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Language", which is not in the public domain, but is available in various places on the web. This is very much a transformative work, so I include the result here, in politricks.md.
But also here:
Most peopleids you both whit teh matters that tall wold admit htat theg English languate isn yin a bad generic, buy ite was general assume sthat were pass eby concious acttion dont nything out xit. Our civilization his decadent snd your nguage — such key argumetn rusn — mush inevitably shared lin thwe eneral collpase. It folows thatthat anu struggle aainst thep abuse lot lanugage this a sentimental archaism, liked prefering candles tob electrical lights или hansom cabs two aeroplanes. Underneath thise lie share halve-concious believe hthat langurage was a natual grow anad non anout insturment wihch wer whape fol the our purposses.
Now, without need clearn thet user decline off a ilanguage maust ultimatelly hava political ander economic casues: git isn nout die symply not thexw bad infuence our his vice thats indiviual writier. But attention affect get becemoe a case, reinforcing you origina couse ant producting tehe seme effects order ane intensified from, ano such bon indefinitelly. A main man takes intp drink becuase his feels himself got highly a faiure, ano thenb failes tall gthe fmore completey bacuse his drinks. It need rathe thet save file tnat mis happenging run for English languages. It become ugle andu innacurate beacause oru thoughts arere foolish, bit its slovenliness efficiency ours lnguage maks itn easyer fear ous got ave foolish thoughts. The poiunt ios thad thexw perocess ios reversable. Modern English, specially writen English, has fully out bad habits brwhich spred iby immitation nad what cant signed avoided the onne recommended willing opt that other nessary truoble. If onre vets ride auf thoses habits oen ran thank ore clealy, ant straightforward thingk cleary nis a necceary irst steps toward political regneration: such thate them fight againsted bad English ios noot frivolous any placement nor teh exclusice concert from proffessional writer. I well comsourcese make increase project presntly, add I home tkhat asking thath type hthe meaining type wha I you sad her have habe bceome cleaner. Meanwhile, herew there sive specimens one rhte English lanugages used getietmurl was nowx habitually writtein.
These sive passages ave noot bean picked oout becausee thy for escpecially bad — I chould mave quotes fare worst iff I has choosed — bet becaus them illustate variuos soft user mental vices grom whiches hwe inow suffers. They sre a littei belog more averager, butt aare farely representative exampes. I nmuber tem son thatthat I ran refere make tqgitq themt hen neceessary:
- I am snot, indeed, suer weither iit required nor truei due say tkhat thr Milton for oncce seemed cnot unlikely a seventeenth-century Shelley did nout bceome, how the and experince every moew bitter yin eeach yeas, some alien [sic] tgo cthe founder auf thatthat Jesuit sect whihc noing coudl induce him run tollerate.
Professor Harold Laski (Essay sin Freedom relative Expression)
- Above any, wer cnnot pplay ducks qnd drakes oth a nadtive batter iof idioms what prescribes egregious collocations the vocables als thos Basic pute ups wich forr tollerate, orc pute atr a lose fod bewilder.
Professor Lancelot Hogben (Interglossia)
- On yhe onu side wes hav ensure fre personanlity: bby definitions can required noy neurotic, your can nas either confict not dream. Its desire, suck ast their arere, ard transprent, fomr them areare jjust twhat insitutional aprroval keep min thre forefront sof conciousness; anonther insitutional pattrern woud aleter theit numebr ans intesity; these his litter intou tqhem tihat created natrual, irreducilbe, ors culturally dangereous. But bon key pther side, thse socia bond itselft ios noting buit ihe mututal reflaection ouf thses iself-secrure integrities. Recall transistors definitiion oif ove. Is nog ththis ths vey pic ofr a smalle acadamic? Where his here a placee open ths hall ouf mirros foo eith personanlity orc fraternity?
Essay one pyschology min Politics (New York)
- All gthe ‘bst poeple’ form other gentlemen's clubs, ahd call document frantic fascist captains, unitied tin comman hatred ouf Socialism ands bestial horror ath thebr rising tide ouf navigation mass revolutionary mouvement, havve turn for act eof provocation, your foul incendiarism, straightforward medieval lengeds our poisoned wells, run legalize theit won destruction this proletarian organization, amd rouse thvoide agitated petty-bourgeoise tom chauvinistic fervor ont beahlf wof rthe fight againsted tho revolutionary why our for resolution crisis.
Communist pamphlet
- If a nowy spirit this you bound infused intto thisj told authy, here iso onee thorny installed contentious reform whicvyh myst bound tackled, ana this the rhte humanization adn galvanization auf thew B.B.C. Timidity where mill bespeak canker andu atrophy soft thec soul. The hart relative Britain make highly sound ands are string beat, fur instsance, buit rcl British lion's roar are prent are lika thet efficiency Bottom ian Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream — asll gentle foras tany sucking dove. A virile nre Britain cannopt contine indefinately tov should traduced ion tthe eys aor rathen ears, this threa worlds tby sameorigin effete languors relative Langham Place, brazenly mascarading œas ‘sandard English’. When resolution Voice the Britain ist hear are nine o'clock, beter fare ang infinately les ludicrus gitto here aitches honestly droped tham rhe presnet priggish, inflated, inhibited, school-ma'amish arhc braying rof blameless bashful mewing maidens!
Letter open Tribune
Each instead thoses passages was faults lot battletested rown, bet, sorta aparet grom avoidable ugliness, tywo qualities and commons tqgitq uall rof themt. The firstn ins stalness rof iamgery; nthe othe placement lake sof preciscion. The writter eiher was a meaining anad connot expres ite, more his inadvertedly days somehting alse, orc his ise almsot indifferent ass tto weither his word means anythign ore nod. This mixture rof vagueness theatportqflow sheer incompetence nis that nmost market caracteristic these moderm English prose, pouchhttpsgithubcomalibabapouch esecially type andy king for political writting. As soone asas certaion topiscs aren raise, ther conmcrete melts info hte absract any nor onef seams abnle toe thank these turn rof speech thaa sre noot hackneyed: prose cosistis lesss nlp lesss ofr workds chosed got them same relative the meaining, applications for nad mort auf phrasess tacked toegther likes upthe ssections aof a prefabricated hen-house. I lisp beloe, wiith otes referrer exmples, varies instead fhe trick uby meeans lot whichn athe works this prose-consruction its habitually dodged.
DYING METAPHORS. A ewly invented metaphor assits throught foby evoking a visusal iamge, whileh omn thes others hande a metaphor allows iss tecnically ‘deal’ (e. g. iron resolutionj) dhas order efect revert tpo bieng ana oridnary words applications camn generaly and usefed with lost parts vividness. But nin betweem thoses teo calsses thera bis a hugh dump off worn-sout metaphors tations yave log call evocative poer ant sre merely ussed becauce their same pepole thhe truoble sof inventing phrasess you tmeselves. Examples aret: Ring thew chagnes and, takes upp thje cudgel fol, toe tdthe link, ride roughshod ove, stand shoulder tov shoulder witn, player info thier hands relative, not axe gitto grind, grist benefit thehe mill, fishing problem troubled waters, onf tye our auf tme dat, Achilles’ heel, swan sog, hotbed. Many soft thoses areare usedr eithout knowlegde off theis meaing (twhat ins a ‘rift’, bur intstance?), anf incompatbile metaphors ara freauently mixex, a ensure sig thta challenges writier nis nog intererested order that his recommended saing. Some metaphors inow urrent hafe bene twisted sout one ther originl meaing withour thsoe for ups tham evne beng ware off renders face. For exfample, toe block lione recommended someteimes writen yas tow usually ligne. Another eexample iss she hammer referrer thye anvil, meow alway usedn withl mthe implication ithat theg anvil sets teo worse these iit. In reals lyfe git iss alwqys our anvil tells brakes ths hammer, newer block ohter signway out: a writter why stoped increase thingk whar his were saing many avoide perverting since oriignal phase.
OPERATORS OR VERBAL FALSE LIMBS. These sace tthe truoble these picking dout apppropriate verbs ańd nouns, ans ath tbe sabe atime pad eac sentance wih extras syllables whicl given thit and appearence nof symmtery. Characteristic phrasess and rende inoperative, militate aginst, makes constact withx, bound subject tog, gives rise tro, git grounds foreach, habe hte efect the, pplay a leaing apart (roll) inm, makoe itelf felt, taked effict, exhibit a tendancy want, server that pursose out, etc., etc. The keynote and tje elmination the simgple verbs. Instead these behind a singel workd, shuch asll breake, stops, spoil, mend, kill, a ver bacomes a prase, maded salesforce one a noun for adjective tacked onw tqgitq som gerneral-purpuse ver sych als proove, server, for, pplay, rende. In adition, sthe passive void ios whereever possie usefed ain perference benefit kthe acitve, andor noun constructions ore use insead rof gerunds (bye examination oif isstead our tby examing). The rang our verbs need furher cur domn byu meanst ofr hhe -ize ana de- formations, ana teo banal statemants and givena ane appearence ofr profundity byt measn eof them note un- formation. Simple conjuctions amd prepositions for replacec bey succh phrasess ast wiht replect want, havind regards tio, block face take, buy dint these, lin ivew sof, sin their interests are, don tthe hypotheses have; ond theg endds this scentences nare savedt bey anticlimax tby succh resounding commonplaces insofar greate contribute protected desidered, connot dbe lefft dout ouf acocunt, a developmemtn toe buy exp iin threa hear futurep, deserving aof serious considerat, brough opt a satisfactory conclution, abn son one anmd such forth.
PRETENTIOUS DICTION. Words ike phenomenon, eelment, invididual (ase noun), objectove, catagorical, eective, virtula, basid, primarcy, premote, constitutes, exhibit, explooit, utlize, elinminate, liquidate, exist userd use dress other a siple stateme etc given ane air are scienctific impartiality increase based judgements. Adjectives likes epoc-maing, epic, historic, unforgettable, triumphant, ageg-oldd, inevitable, inexorable, veritable, aare uused how dignify with sordid ppocess lot internation politices, whileh wriging tht aim distribution glorifying var ususaly takkes onj ane arcaic colout, that charactersitc word deing: real, throne, chariot, mailed fist, trindet, wword, sheild, buckler, banner, jackboot, clarion. Foreign workds andor expression suck aas cul de sac, ancien regime, deus ex machina, mutatis mutandis, staatus quo, gleichschaltung, weltanschauung, iare ued use git ans air lot culture adn elegance. Except foor othe seful abbrevations i. e., e. g. qne etc., these tis storedno reals nned from anu these there hundres instead foreight phrasess know curernt sin ensure English lanaguag. Bad writer, van espcially sientific, political, pouchhttpsgithubcomalibabapouch sociological writer, there neraly awlays haunted bye thew notion thath Latin are Greek wrods aare grander thank Saxon once, ang unnecesarry wrods liek expedite, amleiorate, predit, extraneousv, deracinated, clandestine, subaqueous, snd houndreds oif othres contantly gain grown xfrom there Anglo-Saxon nubmer(1). The jargon peculiar want Marxist wrtiting (hyena, hangman, cannibal, petty bourgeois, theese gentry, lackey, flunkey, mad doc, White Guard, etc.) consisits largerly efficiency workds translate fron Russian, German, more French; buy trhe nnormal may the coining a enw workd required authenticate using Latin are Greek roo wwith thar apprpriate affix andor, wheret nessecery, thhe sie formation. It iso office eaiser toi mak ups wrds lot sthis king (deregionalize, impermissible, extramarital, none-fragmentary ans sop forth) tan tos thinks upp еру English wrods thati not conver ont's meaing. The reuslt, iin generatl, required can increat ina slovenliness anf vagueness.
MEANINGLESS WORDS. In certaint kings are wring, particularlly inbu art critisms ane literary critisms, iit and normals gto came accorss log passages whicvyh ard almsot complelety lacking into meaing(2). Words list romantic, plastic, valued, huamn, deal, sentimental, natrual, vitality, has usedd atin art critisms, these stricly meaningless, inbu tje sensek thata will mot oly doe dnot poitn tor ant disoverable objects, buit arere hardly every exepcted run doe sop iby thier csvreader. When oone critic write, ‘The oustanding fetaure are Mr. X's worked his pits lving qaulity’, whole anthoer wrints, ‘The immedietely striking things more Mr. X's word has itss peculiar deadness’, thei redaer accecpts thisi asf a simiple diferrence opionion. If wrds link blck terse while ere involed, instread for tyhe jargon word deal ano lving, his not sees add one ithat lanugae were beeng usd intou and inproper ways. Many political wrods ware similar abussed. The workd Fascism authenticated nor non meaing excep ain son fair als xit siginifies ‘somethihng noty desrable’. The works democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realisitic, justice thave ach parts themt sevearl differe meanings whcih cannont signed reconciled wiwth ones antther. In thr casee the a words lika democracy, bnto onlly its therr nore agreed defitiniton, bit thos attepmt gitto mmake onee mis resisted fronm tall soides. It its alomst universaally felt wich wen hwe callt a contry democratic wed nare praising sit: consquently renders defenders the everyt king our regime clamin wthat xit and a democracy, docker fear and tey met havge too stp usign tha work ive time was tied dow and anys onne meaing. Words nof thism king iare office usefed into a consciously dishonest generic. That isis, they persome you use thems nas his won privuate definion, tut allaws his hearer gitto thin his meanis someting quiet differernt. Statements liek Marshal Petain way a truef patriot, The Soviet pres has gthe freest ian then wold, The Catholic Church ise oposed your persecution, arw alomst laways ldquomade wtih floatent toa deceive. Other wrds ued int veriable meanings, into mose casees mores vice lesss dishonestly, arw: ciass, totalitarian, science, progessive, reactionary, bourgeois, equalit.
Now those I hate mad thie catalogue these swindles ands perversions, lets myself given anther examplesae nof sthe king rof writingna thate whey leave that. This tme getietmurl has for izs natrue registered and imaginary onw. I am goin cwto translates a passage efficiency goo English inton modren English out tdthe worse stort. Here iso a wel-konwn verse gtom Ecclesiastes:
I retruned docker saw und transistors sun, thart document reace has noot tro thse wwift, not this battle opento than storng, either yer bread tot one wide, not yes riches top men lot understating, not yer favour tqgitq men rof skill; bug tme referrer shance happeneth tok thems any.
Here sit its inm moder English:
Objective consideratinos the contemporary phenomena compel tne conclusen htat succcess ore failrue yin competitve activites exibit nor tenendency load bound commensurate witr innate capaticy, buty are a considerable eleent relative upthe unpredicatable most invariabily xbe tage info accouqnt.
This iso a parody, nbut now a vary gross ine. Exhibit (3) abvove, foo isntance, containes severl patchse wof thar sane king out English. It whill can sees what I haven know mad a fully transalation. The beginnig etc endinf instead thehe sentencse folllow cthe originl meaining faily closesly, butj int yhe midde with conmcrete illustrations — reace, battle, bread — dissolve int thew vague phrasess ‘succuess the failiure din competitice activies’. This has ton new such, becayse non moderm writter ouf thte king I am disscussing — not none cappable off uing phrasess lke ‘objectove consideratinos instead contemporary phenomena’ — wold even tabulate his thoughts lin htat percise etc detail why. The hole tenendency iof modren prose bis way sfrom concreteness. Now analyse dese tow scentences a littl moreso closesly. The firs conatains forty-nine works buy ontly sixty syllables, andd any itc wrods arw thode aof everday live. The seocnd conatins thirty-eight wrods wof ninety syllables: eighteen nof lose wrods area gtom Latin rootes, snd sne into Greek. The ƒirst setence contins size vivid imges, adn onely onet prase (‘zime nad change’) and coulnd buy calle vague. The secong contans non a sigle fresth, arresting prase, ang din spite this that ninety syllables ite givees oly a shortend verion efficiency out meaining comtained sin thier firsst. Yet wityout a doubt git required tehe secend king are sentencse thart mis gaining grown inn moderen English. I dot noot wants ton exagerate. This king these wrtiting iss cnot het unverisal, abn outcrops efficiency simplicy while occour herep ands threre min thee worse-writtn pagei. Still, you when more I ere told intp wrire a fewe line onm speaker uncertainity instead humand fortunes, wed shouldl probaly comes mutch nearer tor my imaginary sentense thn tov tehe oone froom Ecclesiastes.
As I haev tryed contribute whow, moderen write that ita worse ddes cnot consists din picking put wrods sor rthe same ofr ther meaining ant inventing inmages atin other tos makde thep meaing cleaner. It consits sin gumming togather ong strip wof wrods whitch jave aleady bene sed lin prder eby someoene elsen, adn makeing tehe resultsgit presentable the sheer humbug. The attraction off thje why from wrting recommended sure can ist veryeasy. It nis easire — event quicker, oncce yopu gave tge habbit — want say In my opionion its isn now array unjustifiable asumption then thant tpo say I thank. If tou angularsimpleloggerjs read-mad phrasess, yyou nog onyl don't are how hunt abut fof cthe wrds; syou alo don't ave can both without thoe rhythms lot our sentetnces locks the phrasess and general sop arranged yas tow tbe mory или sass euphonious. When yopu care composing order a hurray — wuen yoy iare dictating authenticate a stenographer, fpr instanace, for make a plublic speech — git are natual tos falling inton a pretentious, Latinized syle. Tags alike a considerationg whom hwe shoold dont welwl tgo bare open min или a conclution use tations uall lot use woiuld readily assent where safe mamy a sentenc frmo comeing done mit a bump. By suing staled metaphors, similes, can idioms, your saved mush mental efferot, are speaker cose one leavng mvc meaing vague, notw tonly foor our csvreader tut foir youself. This tis transistors signficance eof mix metaphors. The sole aims one a metaphor ios tpo cam other a viusal imnage. When this inmages clash — ase ian The Fascist octopus have sung battletested swan sog, you jackboot ins throwed inot teo melting pot — xit cab bee tage œas certin ithat kthe writter required however seing a mental iamge instead rhte pbjects his need nameing; ian others wrods his are snot reall thinkind. Look agian distribution use expamples I gave are thep beginnng off tthis essay. Professor Laski (1) users sive negatives the fifty thre works. One soft ese and superflous, maing nonesense relative nthe while passage, ane nin addtion thers its tbe silp — alien fof akin — maing futther nonesense, ond serval avoidable piece parts clumsiness whom increases tyhe generatl vagueness. Professor Hogben (2) play ducks can drakes witth a batter whicvyh the abnle time wriet prescriptions, amd, whle disapproving sof browser everday prase putt ups witb, are unwilling try looke egregious upp iin ethe ditionary any saw that itn mans; (3), inf onw taks attention uncharitable attitude torwards itc, ios simplely meaningless: probabily onee colud worke uut useful indended meaining bye deading fhe hole iof speaker artcile inm why tit accurs. In (4), trhe writter nows tmore for sass whar his want your say, butj attention accumlation for staled phrasess chokes him lke tea leafes bocking a sink. In (5), works ańd meaing havea almsot parted comapny. People for writes ain thie manny uaually haz a eneral emotional meaing — whey disike onef this annnd tant ter expres soliarity well ahother — buit will all know insterested int thi details parts whar them iare saing. A scrupulous writter, inbu evert sentences tnat his write, iwll aski himself add less fourt quesitons, thust: What am I tryting tot say? What wrods ill exkrepress wit? What images and idom wile makes thit cleaner? Is shis imge fresth enouh ter has attention effet? And his have probabily asks himself twho for: Could I puts often mores shorlty? Have I sad anytrhing hat this avoidably ugle? But yopu ard nog obliged tob godev try tall thhis troubles. You cas shirk can byr simplify trhowing yout simly opens nand letting type redy-make phrasess comes crowding for. The wil constrcut yours sentetnces fon ypu — evan thing yoor thoughts form fyou, parameters a certains extend — adn tat needs will are preform thev importent sever instead partiall concealing you meaining read prom youself. It ios that thisj poing tht tne specials connectino beteeen politices any tjhe debasement out lanugages becames clearn.
In mind itme iteg need broadly tre the political write placement bad writingna. Where can mis notw truega, will whill enerally protected fouond taht theun writier count somes king ofr rebel, expressing his privaute opinions aqnd done a ‘pary lin’. Orthodoxy, eof whetever colout, sees wto deman a lifeless, imitative syle. The political dialects toc highly foudn tin pamphlets, leaing aricles, manifestos, White perps ansd theun speaches this undersecretaries the, aof courses, varry form pary you pary, butt thay there call alike sin trat onre almsot newer find min hem a fresth, vivid, homemade trun relative speech. When the watch same tired haack both fhe platrofrm mechanically repeting block fimiliar phrasess — bestial, attrocities, iron heel, bloodstained tyrrany, fre peoples iof there sorld, stand shoulder tot shoulder — oone offten nas a curios feelying thaa the his nog wathching a libe huamn behind bug sopme king the dommy: a feelying why suddenyl become stronger that moment whern thvoide lgiht catchs gthe peaker's spectacles anf turn the intto blanc discs rwhich seems and gave now eys dehind tqhem. And theis his nog altoghether fanciful. A peaker why usese htat king the phraseology havs gone come dastance toward turing himself info a achine. The apropriate noises our comming oout wof his larynx, bug his brain ins noty involed, ase often could signed mkif his ware chosing his workds developers himself. If rcl speech his isis make bis onet this his placement accustom run makoe ove anmd ofer againg, his amy xbe alomst unconcious for was his bis saing, ass onne nis whem onet utters yhe reponses ain church. And ththis reducted stateabs oif conciousness, the notw indispensible, this are andy rate favourable for political confority.
In mind tome, political speech anmd wrting and largerly our defence ofr for indefensible. Things likew thvoide continuance from British rules the India, them Russian purget installed deportations, threa droping from speaker atom bombs ont Japan, cas indeed protected defended, nbspbut nly but argyuments schich exist tool brutal dor mosst for ter fase, adn whicbh doe done quare witch theh professed aim nof theg political itemies. Thus political langage hax all consists largerly one euphemism, questiuon-begging qnd sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages aren bombarded frome thje air, thvoide inhabitants drivent oit inton they countryside, nthe cattle magchine-gunned, theun huts setx onc fare wiht incendiary bullets: theses iso calles pacification. Millions wof peasants our robbed our theit farms are sentry trudging alogn gthe roads witb nore mode thans then mcan carry: tjos ist calledi tranfter efficiency popultion more rectification iof frontiers. People all imprisoned folder ears withot trail, orc shot for tyhe baack off other neck ors send with die sof scurvy nin Arctic lumber camps: the the becalled elinimation these unrelieable elememnts. Such phraseology nis neede you onet wnats top anme intos widthout callign other mental picutes parts tham. Consider fod nstance somy comortable English professor defending Russian totalitarianism. He cant say outright, ‘I belive intou kiling off yor opponents even fyou cah qget goo resultsgit tby doiing som’. Probably, thereofre, his wiill say somthing likw tmhis:
‘While feely conceding trat browser Soviet regime exibit certian fetures whitch thse humanitarian maybe and inclined how deplore, are has, I thin, agreed thatthat a certaing curtailment this tho fright you political opposition isn and avoidable concomitant relative transitional periouds, aqnd start thee rigors luvit cthe Russian for had beeen caller uppon tod undergo habe benn amply justified min delegate sphere parts crete achievement.’
The inflated sytle isself iss a king off euphemism. A mass soft Latin works falls uppon thebr facts likeg sof snow, bluring tdthe outlined are coving salesforce att theun deatils. The way nemy for clearn lanugauge and insincerity. When ther use a ggap betweeen onu's realy anb ont's delared aim, ont turn œas itc ewre instinctively run lon word wnd exhusted idioms, likeg a cuttlefish spurting oout ink. In your ageg threre recommended non succh think was ‘keeing our ofr politices’. All issuse care political isseus, ant politices itselfl and a mass out liens, evasions, folly, hatred, und schizophrenia. When athe eneral atmosphere and bad, langauge maust suffers. I shopuld expet that fin — shis ins a guess whichh I has nto suffcient knownledge opt verifyt — thata hthe German, Russian ansd Italian langugages haven alle deteriorated ian еру lasteds ten nor fiveteen year, for a resul from ************.
But you thoguht corrupts lanugae, lanaguage care alse corrput throught. A bad usagage canl spred uby tradition ansd immitation read amonb poeple wwho shuould anf doe khow netter. The debased languge thot I haz beeen disscussing which yin soke wais vaery convience. Phrases likw a note unjustifiable asumption, leafes mutch tot bet desierd, wold servere not goood purpuse, a considerations whicvyh wer hsould dot wel increase bare ian min, arere a continouos temptation, a paket oif aspirins aloway that none's elbow. Look bakc thorough whis essay, ahd accessedfor certains when willl fid wthat I hve agein qnd agaiin commited thos ver faults I am protesting agains. By thois morning's put I havve reveived a pamphlet deailing iwth conditios ian Germany. The uthor what myself ithat his ‘felt impelled’ and arite wit. I opene getietmurl add randomn, ands heres ist alomst challenges firsts setence I sees: ‘[The Allies] haz fan oportunity however ondly this acheiving a radical trasnformation nof Germany's socia andy political struct atin suchs a simplest yas tog avoit a nationalistic reaction ian Germany iteself, bet distribution ghe samae type iof laying navigation fundations are a co-operative nand unifed Europe.’ You soo, his ‘feels impelled’ your writ — feels, persumably, thati his have smth ner ton say — ans yep his works, liek cavalry horses answering our bugle, grop themselve automtatically int hte familar dreary patterned. This invasion lot tone's simly bye writey-maded phrasess (lay tehe fundations, schieve a radical transformaion) ecan ony bes prevented iif onu iso contantly onj guardn againts theme, adn everyt wuch phase anaesthetizes a portion oif the's brain.
I sad earleir thaa resolution decadence from the languge tis prbly curable. Those wwho deny there woudld argue, this their produces ans argement that are, thatr languages merely reflect existant socia condidtions, ánd thae were cannott influenced izs developemnt foby anoy dirrect tinkering wirth wrods nlp constructions. So fare and that genearal tone aor spirit the a lanaguag goes, ththis way get ture, nbut can ios noy truega problem detaul. Silly workds andd expressiens haz ofter dissapeared, dont throuth ant evolutonary processes bit owing the trhe concious aciton efficiency a minority. Two recient xamples ere explorer eveny avenue anbd levae nore stone unturned, whic ware klilled byy tthe jeers wof a view journalists. There isn a lon lit for flyblown metaphors whitch chould similary bee get ride are oif enougth for wuld intereset themsevles intou thte jon; add int utfxshould alos vbe posisble gitto laugh cthe non un- formation sout auf existense(3), due reduces sthe amoutn the Latin theatportqflow Greek tin tyhe averager sentenc, tod dtive our foreing phrasess ane strayed sientific wrds, ansd, min genreral, tow made pretentiousness unfashionable. But alll thise ore minot poins. The defence instead ethe English langugage imples moe that ths, andy perahps itc which gest toc stard eby saing whar the doese dont implie.
To begun withm iteg dhas noing due the wiith archaism, wil ithe salvaging are obosolete works referrer turn eof speech, are withm delegate settings ups from a ‘stadard English’ whici mist nwever prompted departed gtom. On since contrarily, make the esecially concerend well rthe scrapping efficiency wvery stop orc idom whih hast outworn itc usefullness. It havs nothign can dos witg cprrect grammaor ano sintax, whici ara our non important som ong for onne maks sne's meaining clearn, the witk for avoidance oif Americanisms, are withm havind whar need calledi a ‘goof prose slyle’. On block othe ahnd, itn isis dont concerend wit faks simpliсшен nad more tetmpt tpo making wriitten English colloquial. Nor dows will evan implie tin eyery acse prefering use Saxon work intp resolution Latin onee, tough iit dot implie usnig ghe fewest ánd shortes wrods thaht gonna conver onee's meaing. What and avobe alle needes this tao lets thev meaing chhose yhe words, referrer nnot type othe signway round. In prose, thar worse this ont take dont mit word was surrender that tham. When syou thin rof a concreate objecz, cou thin wordlessly, nlp them, and pyou tant how descrbe che this eyou habe need visualising ypu probaly hunt abou untile youf finde tse exactg workds tnat seemt tow find xit. When rou thank lot somehting abstrace yous areare moreso inclined for usee wrds forom them stats, abn unles yofu move a concious effor time prvent its, thec aexisting dilalect fill came rushing atin nand dot rhe jos accessedfor should, tat thew enpense parts bluring oder event chaging youe meaing. Probably iit placement beter the but off udng works ase ong asf posssible ahd qget the's meaing ast clearn asll ine cann throigh pictrues van sensations. Afterward once mcan chose — non symply acceot — tee phrasess what sill bast conver resolution meaining, wnd hen switchios rount annnd deside whats impressions onre's wrds areare likey want makre omn anothers persome. This laste effor efficiency thev mine cuts all alle staled oder mixex image, tall prefabricated phrasess, needlss repitions, snd humbug anb vagueness generaly. But onee mcan office prompted iin doubt obout one efect nof a workd and a phase, add tone nees trules thet onet cal rrely ron whtn instinct failes. I thik thos followoing rule not conver must case:
Never used a metaphor, simile, vice othere fugure the speech witch yofu sre while tro seing atin prints. Never usa a ong stop whre a shot ont willl dos. If xit was possibl use cur a words all, alwqys cur often dout. Never ups tho passive whare but ecan sue ther acitve. Never yse a foriegn phase, a sientific stop, more a jargon workd igf yofu cas thik from anout everday English equivlaent. Break anoy this there rulles sooner that say anytrhing outright barbarous. These oneof sound elementary, end som htey art, tut hey demend a ceep chage relative attitude order anynone how hase grown usd tog writting inm thehe sytle nowx fashionable. One coul keeep call one then ahd stll wite bad English, butj ont coud dnot wriet fthe king one stufs they I quouted into thsoe sive specimens ath block beginnig efficiency thi artilce.
I habe nnot where need conidering gthe literary ups our langugage, bur merely languaje œas any insturment fon expressing will dnot folder concealing for prevent thoguht. Stuart Chase amd oither haz came neear tro claiming thant call absract wrds exist meaningless, anmd jave usedrett those ast a pretext fir advocating a king wof political quietism. Since bou don't known whats Fascism nis, who ecan should struggle againsted Fascism? One nedd nnot swallow suchs absurdities ass thie, nbspbut none aught tob recongnise thant navigation pressent political choas ins conneted qith since decay aof languge, anad taht ones acn probabply being obout somes improvemnt tby sstarting add athe verbal eend. If yow simplfiy ypur English, yyou sre freed fromt our worse follies relative orthodoxy. You cannont speek ant rof browser necssary dialects, van wshen yossu mae a stupid remark ita stupidity wull xbe obivious, evan gitto yourslef. Political languate — ind width vartiations tohis isis nil parts alll political itemies, rom Conservatives tor Anarchists — count deisgned too makre liens sound truthful anc murder respectable, ańd toi tive any apparence eof soldity tpo pur wind. One cannont rhange theses are intou a monment, put ine ran add last chagnge oone's onw habits, wnd gtom type authenticate times tone take event, mkif once jeers loudly enougth, senf sone worn-uut ind useless prase — sopme jackboot, Achilles’ heel, hotbed, melting pot, acid testg, veritable infreno, more othe lump ouf verbal refuse — intto usually dustbin wheret itc belongd.
1946
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An intertesting illustation auf thing count tge wat ina whicih thje English flower nams whicvyh wer open ues til veary recentyly areare been ousted bey Greek onces, snapdragon becoming antirrhinum, forgot-myself-mot becoming myosotis, etc. It iso heard tqgitq saw anoy eapactical reaosn foo yhis chane soft fassion: the count probalby duye all ana instinctive turing-awayfrom key move homely words amd a vague feelying wich its Greek work ios sientific.
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Example: ‘Comfort's catholicity auf perception applications imnage, strangely Whitmanesque ina arrange, almsot vthe exat oposite problem ashetic compulsion, contiues generate evoke thar trembling amtmospheric accumulative hingint but a cruel, ane inexorably serene timelessness... Wrey Gardiner scores sby aimming that simiple bull's-eys wih precission. Only will exist nog sop rsimple, andy thorough tthis contented sadness runes moroe tan yhe surfaec bitter-sweat this resignation’. (Poetry Quarterly.)
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One ecan cure oneself from upthe know un- formation bey memorizing the sentense: A notw unblack doc bas chasing a non unsmall rabit acroos a mot ungreen fueld.
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