I’ve been wanting to post this passage here for some time, and have been thinking about ways to incorporate it that aren’t entirely laden with despair, so here goes…
I’ve been doing a lot of microblogging – in place, alas, of regular blogging – over at Twitter lately (@SarahLabrie), and recently read an article outlining the evils of blog / tweet / instant message / SMS language. The point: Is the superhuman ability to spread news at lightning speeds in 140 characters a blessing of the times, or is the use of emoticons, the endless pile of acronyms, and the (often exhausting) onslaught of drole-ism actually hindering our ability to process the hard stuff?
“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.” – George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”
