Thursday, January 03, 2008

tell me lies tell me sweet little lies

We fail to heed Sapir-whorf

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'Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow
the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime
literally impossible, because there will be no words in which
to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be
expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined
and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten.
Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we're not far from that point.
But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are
dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness
always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there's no reason or
excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It's merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won't be any need even for that.
The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.
Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is Newspeak,' he added with a sort
of mystical satisfaction.
'Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050,
at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who
could understand such a conversation as we are having now?'

Georgre Orwell, 1984

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Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
Nobody said elves were nice.
Elves are bad.
Terry Pratchett in Lords and Ladies

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