Politics and the English Language

1.

“LANGUAGE AND POLITICS”

2.

Language can be used for several reasons, such as
communicating ideas, creating art, and influencing
others.
Politicians often utilise language to influence and
persuade the masses to think, behave, or vote in a
certain way.

3.

The relationship between language and
politics falls within the study of language
and power, which recognizes how others
can use language to make us act, feel, or
think in certain ways without force.

4.

The term language politics refers to all the ways that language can
be used as leverage to manage people, gain power and promote
special interests.
For example, many countries have an official language, and
immigrants are often expected to know that language.
Language politics is also demonstrated in the way that certain
words go out of favor and become "politically incorrect." If a
person uses these outdated words, he or she might be viewed as a
bigot, or at the very least, unenlightened. Some words that refer to
race or sex, origin can be used to do emotional harm to people.

5.

Politicians have their own special language when it
comes to language politics. They often use vague
wording and euphemisms.
For example, a politician might use the phrase “the
sacrifices of our ancestors” to influence constituents
to support a war. In order to soothe angry tempers,
he or she might talk about “service to our nation”
in a speech about raising taxes.

6.

Countries designate official languages to simplify
government operations, legal issues, health, safety and
other societal interactions.
People who do not speak the official or recognized
language may be marginalized. They may have difficulty
adjusting to their new home and a harder time finding jobs
— especially jobs that pay well.
In the US, English as a second language (ESL) courses are
offered. Surprisingly, the US does not have an official
language, although English is the de facto language.

7.

Words are often an issue in language politics when
it comes to referring to gender, race, origin and
sexual preference. Some of these words can
become outdated. If a person is not aware of this,
he or she is not thought to be "politically correct."
Examples of this in the US are referring to women
as "chicks" or referring to Asians as "Orientals."

8.

According to Wareing (1991), there are two main types
of power; instrumental and influential.1
Instrumental power = authoritative power, e.g., the
Queen has authoritative power over the United Kingdom;
she doesn't need to convince anyone of her power.
Influential power = When individuals or organisations try
to gain power over others by influencing their thoughts and
behaviours. E.g. advertising companies try to gain power
over people's buying habits by influencing their thoughts.

9.

Politics can be considered both instrumental
and influential power. However, when looking
at individual or small groups of politicians and
their language use (e.g. giving speeches), we
usually consider this a type of influential
power.

10.

POLITICS AND LANGUAGE TECHNIQUES
When analysing political speeches and politician's use of the
English language, we can look out for the following language
techniques:
Political rhetoric
Pragmatics
Forms of address
Political spin

11.

Features of political rhetoric
Examples
Alliteration
'Veni, Vidi, Vici' - Julius Caesar
Allusion (referring to
'Ask not just what our
something without
government can do for us, but
explicitly mentioning it) what we can do for ourselves' Barack Obama(Alludes to J. F.
Kennedy's inaugural address)
Rhetorical questions with 'Where are the 9 million more
suggested answers
jobs that President Obama
promised his stimulus would
have created by now? They are
in China, Mexico, and Canada
[...]' - Mitt Romney
Lists of three
'Education, education,
education' - Tony Blair

12.

Metaphors and extended Common metaphors in politics include
metaphors
comparing:Politics to warThe economy
to a building Nations to people
Repetition
'We will make America strong again. We
will make America proud again. We will
make America safe again. And we will
make America great again.' - Donald
Trump
Imperatives
'Get Brexit done' - British Conservative
Party
Flattery
'And might I say you're all looking rather
lovely this evening...' - Boris Johnson

13.

Hyperbole
'So first of all, let me assert my
firm belief that the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself.' Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Emotive language
'Do not the British people deserve a
Prime Minister they can trust, not a
Government who are mired in
sleaze, cronyism and scandal?' Kier Starmer
Tautology (Saying
the same thing
'It is what it is' - Donald Trump
twice)
Prevarication (avoi 'I'm not interested in that. I'll tell you
ding the question) what I am interested in...'

14.

Task 1
How many of the
previous techniques
can you see in this
2017 speech
extract from then
Labour leader
Jeremy Corbyn.

15.

IN THIS SPEECH, WE CAN SEE;
Repetition - 'Ready to tackle inequality, ready to rebuild our NHS,
ready to give opportunities to young people [...]'
Allusion - 'They're certainly not strong, and they're definitely not
stable.' (alluding to Theresa May's 2017 political slogan.
Rhetorical question - 'Theresa May told voters they faced the threat
of a "coalition of chaos. Remember that?'
List of three - 'Phillip Hammond and Liam Fox, Boris Johnson and
David Davis.'
Hyperbole - 'They're hanging on by their fingertips'

16.

Orwell’s six ules

17.

OVERVIEW
“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 with 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 irreversible” (Orwell 1).

18.

Orwell was disturbed by the progress of the English
language, thinking that the language was being made
simple
In addition to being lazy, Orwell thought that simple
language made it easy to think simple thoughts; the more
simple the thoughts, the more simple the language would
become… and it would go on and on like this until English
speakers were almost unable to think for themselves (or, at
least, to think with any form of real complexity)

19.

5 PRIMARY “TRICKS”
Orwell saw 5 primary “tricks” used in modern English to get people
to not think very deeply:
1. Dying metaphors
2. Operators/verbal false limbs
3. Pretentious diction
4. Marxist language (a bigger deal at the time because of the rise of
communism)
5. “Meaningless” words As we read through these examples, we will
talk about why Orwell was bothered by them. The first two examples
are on page 3 of the essay.

20.

DYING METAPHORS
A dying metaphor is a metaphor that has been around so long it has either
1.) lost its original meaning, or
2.) has no meaning to anyone anymore. Remember: metaphors are intended to put an
image in the reader’s head. If it doesn’t do that, then it doesn’t mean much.
Examples:
Toe the line (originally meaning to stand behind the start line at a race; play by
the rules)
Brand new (originally meaning wood that had just been cut and had a brand
burned into it)
Whole new ballgame (originally used to describe a comeback in
baseball; a situation that is now very uncertain)
Deadline (originally used to describe the line around a prison where escaping
prisoners would be shot dead)

21.

WHY ARE DYING METAPHORS BAD?
Dying/dead metaphors don’t add anything to a sentence.
They sound like they add something, but they’re
meaningless anymore.
Orwell accused them of being “lazy”
A good writer or someone who actually had something
important to say would come up with another way to make
his/her point

22.

OPERATORS/VERBAL FALSE LIMBS
These sound complicated, but they’re really not!
These are what I might call “unnecessary wordiness”; for
example:
“Give rise to” (instead of “create”)
“Have the effect of” (instead of just “effect”)
“Play a leading part in” (instead of just “lead”)
“Serve the purpose of” (instead of just “serve”)
Using the passive voice instead of the active voice Passive
Voice: The car was driven by me. Active Voice: I drove the
car.

23.

WHY ARE FALSE LIMBS BAD?
They give the appearance of saying something
important, but actually just serve to make what you’re
saying more complicated.
One of the problems with what I said above is what
could happen as a result: if people can’t follow what
you’re saying, then you could pull things over on them/trick
them
(Plus they sound stupid)

24.

PRETENTIOUS DICTION
“Fancy word” use; especially using foreign
words for things we already have words for in
English.

25.

WHY IS PRETENTIOUS DICTION BAD?
According to Orwell, it’s just not practical. We already
have plenty of words in the English language; why don’t
you just use a word we all understand?
Along the same lines as operators and verbal false
limbs, pretentious diction makes it sound like you have a lot
more to say than you really do. Plus, people may not
understand you, but they will go along because they don’t
really know what you’re talking about.

26.

MARXIST WRITING
Without going into too much detail:
communist movements tended to make up
a bunch of cool sounding words that didn’t
really mean much.

27.

“MEANINGLESS” WORDS
These are words that are being used imprecisely.
They are often used like they have great importance, but they don’t ever actually
point to any real concept.
Political Examples:
Freedom
Democracy
It’s not that these words aren’t important, it’s just that their meanings are fuzzy. When
they are used, it is up to each individual to define the word for his/herself. This can
be used to deceive people. This is why Orwell considered them particularly bad.

28.

HE REASON WHY WE STUDY LANGUAGE IS NOT BECAUSE YOU NEED TO WRITE A
TEXTBOOK ESSAY TO LIVE!
The reason is…
Language is arguably the most important development in human history. It is also,
of course, the vehicle that spreads all ideas. If language is simple – or if it is so
convoluted that you don’t know what you’re being told – then what does it say about
those ideas (and your ability to think on your own)?
History is full of examples of societies that were brought down by
leaders/governments who fooled their populations by manipulating ideas and
language (you probably don’t have to think too hard to come up with a few)
If you speak without thinking, then you are letting your language think for you.
(Think about that the next time you’re telling “bae” that her eyebrows are “on fleek”)

29.

SIX RULES
Orwell suggested six rules to fix these issues (these are found on page 10 of
the essay):
I. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used
to seeing
II. Never use a long word where a short one will do
III. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out (concision)
IV. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active
V. Never use a foreign, scientific, or jargon word if you can think of an
everyday English word that means the same thing
VI. Break any of these rules if they impede you from being as clear as
possible