Politics and the English Language Summary  Summary (Masterpieces
of World Literature, Critical Edition)  “Politics and the
English Language,” though written in 1946, remains timely for
modern students of language. In this essay, Orwell argues that
the English language becomes “ugly and inaccurate because our
thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes
it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” To illustrate his
point, Orwell cites writing from two professors, a Communist
pamphlet, an essay on psychology in Politics, and a letter in
the Tribune. All these examples, Orwell argues, have two common
faults: staleness of imagery and lack of precision. In his
follow-up analysis, he discusses general characteristics of bad
writing, including pretentious diction and meaningless words.
His purpose in the analysis is to show “the special connection
between politics and the debasement of language.”  Orwell
maintains that, in his time, political speech and writing are
“largely the defence of the inde