Language
Value of a Language Words and language are a major aspect in a person’s life. Language is how information is communicated and transferred, and it has a major impact on how things are perceived. A common issue with language is that it is easily misused. Propaganda, errors and tricks are seen everyday, but they go unnoticed. Language is sometimes falsified in order to entice society. Often times the subject at hand is not what it seems.
The abuse of the English language is most often seen in politics, it has a power to mask the truth and mislead the public. In the essay “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell, raises his point of view on the language in politics. He states that politicians use vague and misleading phrases when expressing themselves; the purpose of this idea is to hide the truth (467). Orwell provides an example written by Professor Lancelot Hogben: “ Above all, we cannot play duck and drakes with a native battery of idioms which prescribes such egregious collocations of vocables as the basic put up with for tolerate or put at a loss for bewilder” (Orwell 462). This quote is a clear representation of a writer who tries to sound educated with seemingly elevated language. However this quote is simply a string of meaningless words that mislead the audience. In the abuse of the modern language we come across “puffery”, an idea used in advertisements. According to an essay written by Stephen Carter, he explains that “puffery-the form of words one uses, in the jargon, to ‘puff ’ a product is defined as an advertising claim that is favorable to a product but that nobody would ever believe” (393). This definition discloses the fact that in today’s society every purchase has to be the best or have a false idea of being the best. As Carter states “To be the best is in that sense the minimum claim” (394). The language of advertising performs trickery to provide the consumer with comfort in knowing that the product they have purchased is number
The abuse of the English language is most often seen in politics, it has a power to mask the truth and mislead the public. In the essay “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell, raises his point of view on the language in politics. He states that politicians use vague and misleading phrases when expressing themselves; the purpose of this idea is to hide the truth (467). Orwell provides an example written by Professor Lancelot Hogben: “ Above all, we cannot play duck and drakes with a native battery of idioms which prescribes such egregious collocations of vocables as the basic put up with for tolerate or put at a loss for bewilder” (Orwell 462). This quote is a clear representation of a writer who tries to sound educated with seemingly elevated language. However this quote is simply a string of meaningless words that mislead the audience. In the abuse of the modern language we come across “puffery”, an idea used in advertisements. According to an essay written by Stephen Carter, he explains that “puffery-the form of words one uses, in the jargon, to ‘puff ’ a product is defined as an advertising claim that is favorable to a product but that nobody would ever believe” (393). This definition discloses the fact that in today’s society every purchase has to be the best or have a false idea of being the best. As Carter states “To be the best is in that sense the minimum claim” (394). The language of advertising performs trickery to provide the consumer with comfort in knowing that the product they have purchased is number