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A comment on US Gross Domestic Product, Second Quarter 2022 (Advance Estimate). Parent comment

Re:US Gross Domestic Product, Second Quarter 2022 (Advance E... by jodrellblank on Thursday July 28, 2022 @11:48AM (#32265956)
Nothing says Orwellian Dictatorship like change brought by a "30,000-strong petition", right? Nothing says Ministry of Truth more than "expanding the dictionary", based on "real world examples of use", eh?

(Hint: newspeak was not adding more to the language, was not based on real usage, and was not influenced by public petitions).

Or is this you redefining "Orwellian" and I've missed the joke?

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Re:US Gross Domestic Product, Second Quarter 2022 (Advance E... by kbutler on Thursday July 28, 2022 @12:27PM (#32266558)
Orwellian newspeak definitely expanded the dictionary in doubleplusungood ways, including redefining existing terms to mean the opposite ("WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM" - words are violence, silence is violence, facts are misinformation, racism is only whites oppressing people of color), and by crushing any opposing wrongthink and oldspeak thoughtcrime, the Ministry could easily gather "real world examples of use" and fill petitions with doubleplusgoodspeak doublethink petitioners as desired, whether Orwell described that process or not.

But are we trending toward a Brave New World rather than Oceania?

[ Parent | on HN ]