Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2011-03-08
George Orwell introduced Newspeak in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” to demonstrate how governments attempt to control the masses through language manipulation. (I presume the word “Newspeak” itself was meant to suggest a new way of speaking ... and newer is better). Given that most major government pronouncements are delivered through the news media, it is not surprising that some would think the term to be “News speak.”
Healthspeak, a form of news speak? – WellsphereOct 7, 2008 … ” Has healthcare become infected with the wrong words? Are health managers mired in management-speak? How good are clinicians at using …
www.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry. … eak/416829 – Cached
Last edited by jorkel (2011-02-18 08:30:47)
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The misconception is widespread. There are hundreds of sites, such as the one below, that invoke Orwell and use “newsspeak” in the same sentence.
Bulletin board thread discussion Orwell: “So glad you have brought a spotlight to Orwell’s ‘1984’ encompassing newsspeak /doublespeak and ‘Big Brother’ monitoring/controlling the media and the masses, The Sheeple.”
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Is it sure that Orwell didn’t mean news-speak (likely as not in addition to, not instead of new-speak. Orwell would not be above such a pun, would he?).
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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We can’t know all the turns and twists in multi-layered mind such as Orwell’s, but I see no hint that he connected “Newspeak” to “news.” He didn’t spell it “Newsspeak,” and whenever he used the word “Newspeak” it was always in the context of a dictionary, a word, or a language, not a publicity event. He also contrasted it to Oldspeak (English).
Last edited by kem (2011-02-18 19:37:46)
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