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Politics and the English Language

Posted by wendy3 · May 26, 2012 · 3 replies

hi,

George Orwell: Politics and the English Language

Another example is the hammer and the anvil, now always used with the implication that the anvil gets the worst of it.

in this sentence, what is the traditional meaning of the hammer and the anvil? I could not find it in dictionaries. I do not understand what Orwell means.

The range of verbs is further cut down by means of the -ize and de- formations

in the essay, Orwell uses by means of several times, but can't it be replaced by by simply? May I know what you think?

3 Replies

susan53

1. This is based on a quote from Goethe : "One must be either the anvil or the hammer" - ie either the passive person who gets what is given, or the person who takes action and controls their own destiny. So the implication is that it's good to be the "hammer" and bad to be the "anvil". However, as Orwell points out, the metaphor is inaccurate - in real life it's the anvil which breaks the hammer, not vice versa.

2. Yes, "by means of" could just be replaced by "by".

wendy3 OP

very clear

many thanks.