Orwell on writing good English

by ellis on Wednesday, 9 November, 2005 · 1 comment

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Justin found an essay by Orwell on writing good English.

It includes these rules:

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

1 Anonymous August 6, 2007 at 12:29 pm

This is a fabulous list!

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