Politics in the English Language

Politics and language do not mix well.  When they do mix, language is constantly twisted and changing order to fit people's political agendas.  Politicians constantly use words to make certain things have either positive or negative connotations.  For example, take the topic of Gun Control.  On the right, people use this term to turn people against the policy, and by using the word control which has negative connotations, they are creating a subconscious bias within the audience's mind.  On the left, politicians will use the term "Gun Laws" which sound formal and orderly.

In the article written by George Orwell, he says that politicians use big words that have almost nothing to do with the topic to make their arguments sound sturdy, but in reality by using these meaningless words the politicians are changing the meaning of the argument to both the audience and the politician.  The use of language within politics is just the politician trying to persuade an audience, even if the words don't portray the proper meanings.

Orwell also mentions the use of metaphors in politics, which he says is bad and should not be used.  He says that metaphors just prevent people from thinking of their own words.  In short, metaphors are unoriginal and don't represent the intelligence of the speaker due to the fact that they have been used before.  The main thing is that whenever politicians use metaphors, they don't represent the true meaning of the argument and prevent the person from thinking of words themselves.

In conclusion, in politics, people misuse certain words in order to fit their own political agendas.  Word choice is key when it comes to politics and can make the difference when trying to persuade an audience.  If you use words with positive connotations, the audience will respond better or accept the argument, but if you use words with negative connotation such as "control" as we saw in the gun control articles, people are more likely to reject the argument due to the fact that nobody wants to be controlled and the word has too many negative connotations.    Politicians will use these words to sway an audience and make certain things sound better or worse than they actually are through the use of just words.  It's amazing how much one word can affect an argument.

Tune in next week for the latest story on Aidans's Kitchen.