[Bad sound quality - turn it up!]
My examples of newspeak in today's society are the energy drink Powerade and the PlayStation/XBox game Pro Evolution Soccer.
Orwell explained the premise of "if you control language, you control thought" in the film '1984'. The lexical choice in the names of both products appears to follow this in the way that they give a false sense of empowerment, as if you can perform above and beyond your peak with the help of them.
Powerade
- Clever word play using the words 'power' and 'raid' although it gives no implication as to what the product actually is/does.
- Creates what is known lexically as a 'blend' with a non-standard spelling of 'raid' to create extra confusion to somebody who has never heard of the drink.
- So misleading that I started thinking that the drink may cause you to create football's version of the Russian Revolution! As a result, I bought Lucozade instead...just to be on the safe side!
Pro Evolution Soccer
- In the way that Powerade suggests you will physically play sport above your capabilities, the title of this game suggests you will achieve the equivalent in virtual terms.
- The confusing use of the word 'evolution' suggests you will morph into a superhuman foootballer (in the virtual world).
Just like the NewSpeak dictionary in '1984', these words and phrases are not closely associated to what they actually are/do.
Language has definitly been corrupted/manipulated in some shape or form.
Orwell explained the premise of "if you control language, you control thought" in the film '1984'. The lexical choice in the names of both products appears to follow this in the way that they give a false sense of empowerment, as if you can perform above and beyond your peak with the help of them.
Powerade
- Clever word play using the words 'power' and 'raid' although it gives no implication as to what the product actually is/does.
- Creates what is known lexically as a 'blend' with a non-standard spelling of 'raid' to create extra confusion to somebody who has never heard of the drink.
- So misleading that I started thinking that the drink may cause you to create football's version of the Russian Revolution! As a result, I bought Lucozade instead...just to be on the safe side!
Pro Evolution Soccer
- In the way that Powerade suggests you will physically play sport above your capabilities, the title of this game suggests you will achieve the equivalent in virtual terms.
- The confusing use of the word 'evolution' suggests you will morph into a superhuman foootballer (in the virtual world).
Just like the NewSpeak dictionary in '1984', these words and phrases are not closely associated to what they actually are/do.
Language has definitly been corrupted/manipulated in some shape or form.
really hard to hear this - maybe re-do it
ReplyDeleteYou can definitly hear it if you turn it up! HCJ reading, winol, lectures, blogging, personal life etc...hard to fit in, besides the fact that I learnt what I was meant to learn from this exercise
ReplyDelete