George Orwell posited six rules for good writing:
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(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.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Today’s paper brought rules ii and iii to mind when I read this about Sarah Huckabee’s departure:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, is leaving the Trump administration after a turbulent tenure marked by attacks on the media, dissemination of false information, and the near-disappearance of the daily press briefing. (Emphasis added)
And this:
While Sanders proved a more effective and composed carrier of Trump’s message than Spicer, she maintained the administration’s publicly antagonistic approach to reporters and regularly ran afoul of the facts. (Emphasis added again)
There is a three letter word that means the same thing as “dissemination of false information” and “ran afoul of the facts”. It begins with the letter “l” and ends with the letter “e”, with another vowel in between. (Okay, I just broke the rules too).
It would behoove the press to use that word more often. Keep in mind, 1984 was intended to be a description of a dystopia, not a utopia.
Just to be clear, I don’t believe rule vi is relevant here.
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