MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Clichés and George Orwell's Six Elementary Rules

doubleshuffle · 04-06-2013, 04:45 AM

Thanks for the link to that article, P.weeze.

It's really a pity that it's such a spiteful little article, for of course the author (Geoffrey Pullum, not Anne Curzan, btw) has some valid points. There are phrases and idioms that are basically harmless and useful, and quite a few of them are on Orwell's hate list quoted by Pullum.

Isn't it a matter of balance, in the end? Language, in order to be understood, needs a certain amount of familiarity. The question is how much. The answer should always be: as little as possible; how much that 'little' is will depend on the purpose of the text.

But, obviously, if that purpose is ultimate affirmation of the status quo, i.e. keeping yourself and your readers from any uncomfortable thinking, then the answer will be: pile on the clichés and create that warm, pleasant, mushy vibe of pseudo-thinking that will keep everybody's brains blissfully unaware of their own dullness.

04-06-2013, 04:45 AM	#19
doubleshuffle Unicycle Daredevil Posts: 13,944 Karma: 185432100 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Planet of the Pudding Brains Device: Aura HD (R.I.P. After six years the USB socket died.) tolino shine 3	Thanks for the link to that article, P.weeze. It's really a pity that it's such a spiteful little article, for of course the author (Geoffrey Pullum, not Anne Curzan, btw) has some valid points. There are phrases and idioms that are basically harmless and useful, and quite a few of them are on Orwell's hate list quoted by Pullum. Isn't it a matter of balance, in the end? Language, in order to be understood, needs a certain amount of familiarity. The question is how much. The answer should always be: as little as possible; how much that 'little' is will depend on the purpose of the text. But, obviously, if that purpose is ultimate affirmation of the status quo, i.e. keeping yourself and your readers from any uncomfortable thinking, then the answer will be: pile on the clichés and create that warm, pleasant, mushy vibe of pseudo-thinking that will keep everybody's brains blissfully unaware of their own dullness.