"Meaningless words. In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary
criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost
completely lacking in meaning. Words like
romantic,
plastic,
values,
human,
dead,
sentimental,
natural,
vitality,
as used in art criticism, are strictly meaningless, in the sense that they not
only do not point to any discoverable object, but are hardly even expected to
do so by the reader. When one critic writes, ‘The outstanding feature of Mr.
X’s work is its living quality’, while another writes, ‘The immediately
striking thing about Mr. X’s work is its peculiar deadness’, the reader accepts
this as a simple difference of opinion. If words like
black and
white
were involved, instead of the jargon words
dead and
living, he
would see at once that language was being used in an improper way. Many
political words are similarly abused. The word
Fascism has now no
meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’. The words
democracy,
socialism,
freedom,
patriotic,
realistic,
justice,
have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with
one another. In the case of a word like
democracy, not only is there no
agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It
is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are
praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of régime claim that it
is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it
were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a
consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own
private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite
different. Statements like
Marshal Pétain was a true patriot,
The
Soviet press is the freest in the world,
The Catholic Church is opposed
to persecution, are almost always made with intent to deceive. Other words
used in variable meanings, in most cases more or less dishonestly, are:
class,
totalitarian,
science,
progressive,
reactionary,
bourgeois,
equality."
Read "Politics and the English Language" HERE.
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| Sculpture of the Duce by Aroldo Bellini (1902-1984) for the Universal Exposition in Rome, 1942. It remained unfinished. |
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