257.英文正文(257)
nowordinthebvocabularywasideologicallyneutral。***agreatmanywereeuphemisms。suchwords,forinstance,asjoycamp(forced-labourcamp)orminipaxministryofpeace,i。e。ministryofwar)meantalmosttheexactoppositeofwhattheyappearedtomean。somewords,ontheotherhand,displayedafrankandcontemptuousunderstandingoftherealnatureofoceanicsociety。anexamplewasprolefeed,meaningtherubbishyentertainmentandspuriousnewswhichthepartyhandedouttothemasses。otherwords,again,wereambivalent,havingtheconnotation“good”whenappliedtothepartyand“bad”whenappliedtoitsenemies。butinadditionthereweregreatnumbersofwordswhichatfirstsightappearedtobemereabbreviationsandwhichderivedtheirideologicalcolournotfromtheirmeaning,butfromtheirstructure。
sofarasitcouldbecontrived,everythingthathadormighthavepoliticalsignificanceofanykindwasfittedintothebvocabulary。thenameofeveryorganization,orbodyofpeople,ordoctrine,orcountry,orinstitution,orpublicbuilding,wasinvariablycutdownintothefamiliarshape;thatis,asingleeasilypronouncedwordwiththesmallestnumberofsyllablesthatwouldpreservetheoriginalderivation。intheministryoftruth,forexample,therecordsdepartment,inwhichwinstonsmithworked,wascalledrecdep,thefictiondepartmentwascalledficdep,theteleprogrammesdepartmentwascalledteledep,andsoon。thiswasnotdonesolelywiththeobjectofsavingtime。evenintheearlydecadesofthetwentiethcentury,telescopedwordsandphraseshadbeenoneofthecharacteristicfeaturesofpoliticallanguage;andithadbeennoticedthatthetendencytouseabbreviationsofthiskindwasmostmarkedintotalitariancountriesandtotalitarianorganizations。examplesweresuchwordsasnazi,gestapo,comintern,inprecorr,agitprop。inthebeginningthepracticehadbeenadoptedasitwereinstinctively,butinnewspeakitwasusedwithaconsciouspurpose。itwasperceivedthatinthusabbreviatinganameonenarrowedandsubtlyaltereditsmeaning,bycuttingoutmostoftheassociationsthatwouldotherwiseclingtoit。thewordscommunistinternational,forinstance,callupacompositepictureofuniversalhumanbrotherhood,redflags,barricades,karlmarx,andthepariscommune。thewordcomintern,ontheotherhand,suggestsmerelyatightly-knitorganizationandawell-definedbodyofdoctrine。itreferstosomethingalmostaseasilyrecognized,andaslimitedinpurpose,asachairoratable。cominternisawordthatcanbeutteredalmostwithouttakingthought,whereascommunistinternationalisaphraseoverwhichoneisobligedtolingeratleastmomentarily。inthesameway,theassociationscalledupbyawordlikeminitruearefewerandmorecontrollablethanthosecalledupbyministryoftruth。thisaccountednotonlyforthehabitofabbreviatingwheneverpossible,butalsoforthealmostexaggeratedcarethatwastakentomakeeverywordeasilypronounceable。