“ In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualising you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it. ”
George Orwell, Politics and the English Language (1946). copy citation
| Author | George Orwell |
|---|---|
| Source | Politics and the English Language |
| Topic | words surrender |
| Date | 1946 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | in "Horizon" |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit/ |
Context
“Nor does it even imply in every case preferring the Saxon word to the Latin one, though it does imply using the fewest and shortest words that will cover one's meaning. What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualising you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it. When you think of something abstract you are more inclined to use words from the start, and unless you make a conscious effort to prevent it, the existing dialect will come rushing in and do the job for you, at the expense of blurring or even changing your meaning.”
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