Do you get frustrated with the need to learn three different words to describe the same thing in English? Do we really need all of these varieties? What actually is the point, the benefit, of having 10 ways to describe rain? Or 100 ways to describe how you feel? In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from George Orwell's 1984. This book is a dystopia novel, so darkness is kind of the point! He's trying to show us what the worst case scenario might look like, so we can avoid it. Through this reading you can see one possible idea of what English (or potentially any language) would or could look like if we remove it's variety, if we take out all the antonyms and synonyms, what's left? And would it really matter? In this episode I mention two other episodes you can check out. Episode 180 International Influences On The English Language - Talks about the influences of Viking, Indian and African languages on English. https://youtu.be/YatbgD9Yfsw Episode 179 Why Is English Spelling So Hard?😱 - Looks at the historical roots of some of English's weird spelling. https://youtu.be/4MWFHnoVnt8 I also mentioned a recent video by linguist creator Rob Words called 'Tracing English back as far as possible'. This video uses maps and work by current and historical linguists to identify the potential mother of English and what similarities we can find between English and other languages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeAx3QZ7eRs I hope you find this episode interesting and it helps you feel a little less frustrated with the diversity and variety in English. It's frustrating to learn, but that diversity is definitely also a strength. Think about how you might use English to express yourself differently to how you might express yourself in your own language. See you next time.

Vocabulary

Purloin - steal something

Linguistic - the study of languages

Sanskrit - an ancient (still used) language in India

Examine - to look at closely

Proto Indo European - The linguistic name of one of the proposed earliest languages

Incidentally - by the way, used to add more information

Dystopian - fictional story genre with end of the world types of stories

Authoritarian - a form of government that has absolute power over the people

Excerpt - a short piece of something, usually reading from a book

Audacity - bold or arrogant disregard for normal behaviour

Infuriating - to make you very angry

Relevant - connected to something or a context related to our conversation or topic

Definitive - complete and final

Cut down to the bone - idiom - something is reduced as far as it can be.

Obsolete - out of date, no longer in use

Wastage - the process of losing or destroying something

Synonym - words with the same meanings

Antonym - words with opposite meanings

Vague - unclear or undefined

Afterthought - something that we add later

Lack of enthusiasm - not having excitement for something

Thought Crime - this and words like 'New Speak' are vocabulary invented in the book. Thought Crime defines the idea that you can be guilty of a crime just for thinking differently to how the government wants you to think

Rigidly - without flexibility

Subsidiary - less important but related to something

Self-Discipline - to have self-control

Revolution - the act of rising up against an organisation or government and changing it

Literature - the poems, books and words that make up the stories we read, often used for 'great' or 'classical' works

Slogan - a group of words used to sell an idea

Abolished - to destroy completely, usually for organisations, ideas and laws

Orthodoxy - authorised theory, doctrine or practise

Far-right - often related to authoritarian ideas, often describes people who are against immigrants, choice and freedom

Mainstream - commonly in use by the general public

Woke - aware of important facts (especially around racism)

Eradicate - to get rid of completely

Radical - asking for complete change

Inflict - to cause pain or discomfort to someone else