George Orwell on the need for precise language

[zarus tathra]

link

The words DEMOCRACY, SOCIALISM, FREEDOM,
PATRIOTIC, REALISTIC, JUSTICE, have each of them several different
meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a
word like DEMOCRACY, not only is there no agreed definition, but the
attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally
felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it:
consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a
democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it
were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a
consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own
private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something
quite different.

[Poison Tree]

I often wish people, especially myself, would use more precise language and not just with regards to politics.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Fortunate for Orwell he was a pretty good wordsmith. Politicians usually are not, just fast talkers...usually.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Orwell is one of my favorite writers precisely because of his well-tuned bullshit detector.

Were he alive today, he'd be having a heyday in a target-rich environment.

[zarus tathra]

Let's think of words that are bandied about today that we want stricken from the record/defined more precisely.

Equality
Family Values
Social Justice
Honor/Tradition
Sustainability
Multiculturalism
Marxism

[zarus tathra]

Nobility - Legally recognized owners of income-generating land combined with tenants who are legally prevented from leaving.

Bourgeoisie- Owners of income-generating property, generally not land

Working class - people who own little income-generating property and make their living through employment under the direction of the bourgeoisie

Lumpenproletariat - Poor urban dwellers who make their living through welfare and employment outside the domain of nobles and bourgeoisie

Parasitism - Attempting through force and legal pressure to modify the output of others. This can take the form of union/cartel regulation designed to constrain other people's output, or it can take the form of forced labor in which one tries to force others to increase their output.