The Orwell Experience

After reading a selection like that, my first thought was: "I really hope that my blog post does not contain horrible English grammar considering I just read a story on the topic." I know that this is such a silly thought, but sorry to say friends, I was major judging your blog posts because Orwell got me excited about the use of bad English. I soon became a detective when reading your posts. I must apologize, because I have no place to judge the English and grammar of your blogs, but I did find it humorous that I focused so much on the English and grammar after reading the argument made by Orwell. I really enjoyed this piece, and on many occasions it made me giggle.

Continuing on from the rather long introduction, I must say that the first quote that struck me was:"A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks." Orwell notes that our English becomes quite horrid because of our "foolish thoughts", but because we have "foolish thoughts" it poses as an excuse to write inaccurately. I must admit that sometimes, I too use the wrong words when I am talking. It is merely a mistake, and I think it is because in high school I felt the pressure to speak "intelligently". Hm. One can wonder. Does anyone else feel this way? Maybe not.

Also, another quote I found fascinating was : "An interesting illustration of this is the way in which English flower names were in use till very recently are being ousted by Greek ones, Snapdragon becoming antirrhinum, forget-me-not becoming myosotis, etc. It is hard to see any practical reason for this change of fashion: it is probably due to an instinctive turning away from the more homely word and a vague feeling that the Greek word is scientific." This tickles me so much because I really do feel that people try to sound intelligent in speech and writing. Do not get me wrong, obviously people sound smarter if they are using the Greek names, but I feel it takes away from what we know the flower to be.

Speaking, writing, and teaching respectively and accurately is indeed a challenge that many face today because as a society we are making excuses for our bad English or grammar. It is our responsibility to not only locate the bad habits, but also we must change the bad habits. (I almost wrote "fix" the habit-- this is also a bad habit that is common in the South. One does not "fix" a habit, but rather one can "fix" a door).

I also enjoy the part where Orwell "lays down the law" at the end of his piece. It is quite nice to see in simple form how we can change our bad habits.

So, question time is now in session:
1. Do you think that you have Southern English problems?
2. Do you think because of the pressure put on students by school that people try to hard to use an advanced vocabulary and ultimate fail?
3. Can anyone think of a metaphor or simile that is used incorrectly in today's society?

It's always a good time.
Until then,
Holly