The Peculiar Power of Language

I was sitting in a room and the moderator of a speech contest told one of the competitors that his ‘persiflage’ did him no credit.

The word persiflage rolled off the moderator’s tongue easily.   I looked up the word.  Now I had not know it, or that it was ‘frivolous or bantering talk‘.   Once I had it, I could hear it from other speakers.  Before I knew the word existed, I didn’t know the concept.

A set of promoters formed a company called Synergy.   That word means “a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements (as resources or efforts)“.

It was a brilliant term, for the company had a number of performers who did exemplify that definition.

The term ‘Newspeak’ is used in 1984.  It is an attempt to remove words from the language to prevent people from holding the concept.   It has been said many times, but can be repeated; If you don’t have the words you can’t control your world.

Without the words, you can’t grasp the concepts, you are unaware of the existence of these concepts.   Without the words your intellect is stifled.  You don’t ‘own’ what you experience; without the words, you can’t experience the event.

By removing words from the language one ‘retards’ the population.   By tossing tiny simple words, instead of complex ideas, the population is given very little information, although they feel they have gotten enough.

To say; “This is a Bad Bad Man,”  is ‘understood’, but why?  How?  What did he do or not do?  During the debates, Trump’s speech was remarkably light on specifics about how he intended to accomplish his goals.

By avoiding complex sentences and words with actual meaning, he made statements which are unable to be analysed.  This is because he had no plan.  He simply made the remark and left it.

The public, hearing the simplistic monosyllabic  answers, was unable to comprehend exactly what he meant or intended.   This is deliberate.  As deliberate as the Government in Oceania, in the book, 1984, removing words from the language.  For without the words, one can’t hold the concept.