Anybody vaguely familiar with Orwell’s famous novel “1984” will also be familiar to a similar degree with the term “Newspeak”.
In 1984, Orwell describes how language was taken over, redefined and recreated to an extent where certain ideas which challenge the ideas of the party are not able to be communicated. In the year 2020, we have started to reach a point of language redefinition which I don’t think I have ever seen before.
Now, I know, I know - this seems like a big overreaction; what could have happened in this year which is on the levels of Orwell’s Newspeak? Well, let me enlighten…
Social distancing? Or just staying apart?
It seems like, this year, our language has changed. It has changed in a very strange way.
In this year, our language seems to have been redefined and replaced with new terms that the average person cannot stop using. I have noticed this kind of effect in certain internet sub-communities too: a notable example being Reddit. The average Reddit user seems to be obsessed with restating the same phrases on a regular basis, to the point where it becomes simply a part of their vocabulary. This gets to such a point where this person may begin to actually use these terms compulsively in their actual conversations too. I can guarantee that you have noticed this before. For example, here are just a few of the terms that seem to be used inexplicably often:
- Original Poster (OP)
- Clarification
- Delivery
- Topic at hand
On asking people why these terms are used so often, the reply is often simply “It’s just forum culture!”. This is what I am worried about.
This year, instead of an (arguably coerced) mutation of our language occurring as part of a localized subculture on an internet forum, it seems as though the entire nation has taken on this mutation of language. And it is really strange.
You must practice to social distancing
TRANSLATION: You can’t see other people and stay at home
Whereas, on Reddit, we have the above little terms, in the wider world right now, we seem to have the following:
- Adhere to social distancing guidelines
- Wear a face covering
- Protect our National Health Service
- Designated key workers
- The Coronavirus global pandemic
This whole situation reminds me of how children that went through the British school system in the early 2000-2010s were conditioned by teachers to call the school projector systems the “Interactive whiteboard system”. I know that this was the case because I was one of those children. The root cause behind this kind of vocabulary mutation was the constant repetition of these specific phrases by those in higher positions in the school - AKA: the teaching staff.
This constant repetition and subsequent embedding of language into children’s brains acted like a script being carved into our skulls. It was as though a rehearsed performance was being played through us every time an object or idea was referred to.
Sound familiar?
We are adapting our stores to protect your from the Coronavirus global pandemic in accordance with government social distancing guidelines
TRANSLATION: We added more floor markings and made the tills wider
This has gotten to the point where I will walk down the street and can almost guarantee that I will hear the words “practice social distancing” or “adhere to guidelines” at least three to five times. That’s not normal, but it is becoming…
Normalisation through repetition
I have a theory that the end goal of all of this mutation of language is to create an aura of normality around the incredibly extraordinary events that are occurring. This year (and the one before it) have been marked by us giving up our dignity and our liberty for safety and because the “government told us so”. If you had informed me of the events to come this year and after three years ago, I would have told you to go and put on your tin foil hat with the InfoWars crowd. Now, however, it is accepted as though it were always here.
Lockdowns are not normal life, social distancing is not natural human behaviour, we have not always worn masks at all times and we have not always been at war with East Asia.
2020-2021 will be marked (at least by me) as the years where those in power tried to redefine “outside” as “dangerous”, “meeting” as “irresponsible” and “socialising” as “luxury”. This year is not normal (new normal or old) and it will never be normal. So please, don’t be convinced that we are living in normal times. We are not. We are living in very abnormal times and things are not likely to get better fast unless we, collectively, do something about it.