George Orwell's Six Rules for Writing Clear and Tight Prose

"Ultimately, Orwell claims, bad writing results from corrupt thinking, and often attempts to make palatable corrupt acts: "Political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible." His examples of colonialism, forced deportations, and bombing campaigns find ready analogues in our own time. Pay attention to how the next article, interview, or book you read uses language "favorable to political conformity" to soften terrible things."

"Orwell's analysis identifies several culprits that obscure meaning and lead to whole paragraphs of bombastic, empty prose: Dying metaphors: essentially clichés, which "have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves." Operators or verbal false limbs: these are the wordy, awkward constructions in place of a single, simple word. Some examples he gives include "exhibit a tendency to," "serve the purpose of," "play a leading part in," "have the effect of.""

Vague, clichéd, and inflated language erodes clarity and conceals weak or corrupt thinking. Political and public language often defends indefensible acts by softening or obscuring their reality. Common faults include dying metaphors, which have lost evocative power and are used out of habit; verbal operators or unnecessary wordy constructions that replace precise single words; and general staleness of imagery and lack of precision. These features produce bombastic, empty prose and enable euphemistic descriptions of colonialism, deportations, and bombing campaigns. Readers should attend to language that promotes political conformity and recognize when phrasing whitewashes harmful actions.

Read at Open Culture