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Rubenadriaan Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

Orwell's complaint question?

Here's a sentence by Orwell complaining about modern language:

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

Can anybody help with what is meant by 'the range of verbs'? And is the formation involved something like 'destabilize'?

Thanks, kind regards
  

Top answer

He is complaining that, instead of using a wider variety of usual verbs, people preferred constructions using the suffix -ize/ise or the prefix de-. For example, you could use the verb to shake or to weaken rather than to destabilise. Orwell was a proponent for using Anglo-Saxon words rather than Latin forms wherever possible.

— Elanguest

  • He is complaining that, instead of using a wider variety of usual verbs, people preferred constructions using the suffix -ize/ise or the prefix de-.
  • For example, you could use the verb to shake or to weaken rather than to destabilise.
  • Orwell was a proponent for using Anglo-Saxon words rather than Latin forms wherever possible.
  • He was annoyed that people tried to sound clever by using longer words to express what could easily be said using short ones.
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1 Answers
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He is complaining that, instead of using a wider variety of usual verbs, people preferred constructions using the suffix -ize/ise or the prefix de-. For example, you could use the verb to shake or to weaken rather than to destabilise. Orwell was a proponent for using Anglo-Saxon words rather than Latin forms wherever possible. He was annoyed that people tried to
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