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All's Well that's Orwell: Geoffrey Nunberg has a column in yesterday's New York Times about the use and abuse of the term "Orwellian."

By employing his trademark analysis of word and phrase appearance frequency in literature and the media, Nunberg has come to some interesting conclusions about this favorite (and over-used) term for describing cultural tyranny, that it's not the obviously "Orwellian" phrases that are "Orwellian," but rather words camouflaged as everyday language that often carry the most hidden agendas these days:

Today, the real damage isn't done by the euphemisms and circumlocutions that we're likely to describe as Orwellian. "Ethnic cleansing," "revenue enhancement," "voluntary regulation," "tree-density reduction," "faith-based initiatives," "extra affirmative action," "single-payer plans" -- these terms may be oblique, but at least they wear their obliquity on their sleeves.

Rather, the words that do the most political work are simple ones -- "jobs and growth," "family values" and "color-blind" not to mention "life" and "choice." But concrete words like these are the hardest ones to see through. They're opaque when you hold them up to the light.

Perhaps it's time to replace the tired old "Orwellian," and replace it with something the better reflects the contemporary trend to empty double speak, something oh, perhaps, more "Bushian."

Posted by Jay on Monday, June 23, 2003 @ 3:10 PM [ + ]

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