Joel Batz week 6- politics & the English language

After reading and reviewing George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language” I was informed to a political issue that I was not aware of. Thanks to Orwell I learned from his thesis that the English language is declining in several ways and the blame for that can be politics, and writers like ourselves.  Many writers including myself tend to imitate strategies and style of other writers which has been one of the reasons for the declining of the English language according to Orwell. A great example of this issue can be seen when Orwell states “But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves. ” As stated above this stood out to me the most because I can assure you that almost all writers like myself have fallen for this trap. The meaning of a “worn-out metaphor” is simply a metaphor that has been used  extravagantly by writers without actually acknowledging the meaning or background of the metaphor. An example of a worn-out metaphor can be this very well known metaphor used by many in the morning “rise and shine” this is a metaphor I use all the time and I’m sure you have too. This metaphor has became an ordinary phrase which is simply why it is a worn out metaphor.

This critique by George Orwell is valid because not only have I seen it very often in multiple stories, essays, etc, but because this is one of the downfalls of our language. According to Orwell he states ” Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble.” This is one of the mostly common issues in our language but what Orwell is trying to explain is that the solution is easy writers like myself have to take the challenge and go the extra mile and come up with their own ideas and metaphors. I believe that when language use and politics intersect it can have a great affect on the way people view a political figure circumstance and the political beliefs. A great example can be President Trump’s language use that has created many controversial ideas and opinions towards our president, many are on board with him and many are completely against him. One example of how President Trump’s language use which has contributed to the way people see him can be in one his very well known statements back in 2016 when he stated Mexico sends their worst people and stated how they send “criminals, drugs, rapist, etc.” President Trump’s language use towards the Mexican people has contributed to the hate and anger the Hispanic community has towards him. This is a prime example of how when language use and politics intersect is has a major affect on the audience.