NEWSPEAK WORDS in George Orwell's "1984"

Newspeak Words: from George Orwell’s “1984”.

Complete Novel online 

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clement’s,
You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St Martin’s,
When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey,
When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

Two days after President Trump’s inauguration, on January 22, 2017, George Orwell’s 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, a dystopian narrative set in a surveillance-state, shot to the top of the Amazon bestseller list.

Nineteen Eighty-Four,
Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here,
Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America, and
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, emerged as unexpected literary points of reference for much of the conversation around the language and intentions of the new administration.

 Airstrip One - Formally called England. This term demonstrates Orwell's distain for American influence Europe. It seems that Oceania (America, England, South America, Australia) looks upon Britain as little more than an ‘airstrip’ ... a launching ground into the European theater of war. It appears that Orwell was predicting the minor role that England would play in the global politics of the future.

artsem - artificial insemination; the government is pushing this method of childbirth as the ONLY method, to aid in the destruction of the family unit.

Atomic Wars - The Atomic Wars took place during the 1950's. Colchester, England is the only city that was specifically mentioned as being nuked, but the book does say that many cities were destroyed in North America, Europe, and Russia. It was out of the chaos of these wars that Party emerged and seized control.

BB, BIG BROTHER - Similar to America's "Uncle Sam", except this individual is the leader – possibly a fictional leader – of the nation. In Oceania, BIG BROTHER is worshiped almost as if he were a god. He represents the omnipresence of the government.

bellyfeel - Full emotional understanding. Blind, enthusiastic acceptance of a concept.

blackwhite- The ability to accept whatever "truth" the party puts out, no matter how absurd it may be. Orwell described it as "...loyal willingness to say black is white when party discipline demands this. It also means the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know black is white, and forget that one has ever believed the contrary."

Chestnut Tree Cafe - The "haunt of painters and musicians. There was no law, not even an unwritten law, against frequenting the Chestnut Tree Cafe, yet the place was somehow ill-omened. The old, discredited leaders of the Party had been used to gather there before they were finally purged.

crimestop - Orwell's definition: "The faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to INGSOC, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. In short....protective stupidity."

chocorat - Chocolate ration. The chocolate ration in 1983 was 30 grams per week. (For comparison, a standard Hershey's Chocolate Bar is 43 grams) In the year 1984, the chocolate ration went up to 25 grams per week.

crimethink - To even consider any thought not in line with the principles of INGSOC. Doubting any of the principles of INGSOC. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you can control crime.

Disputed Territories - These are areas of the world NOT permanently included in any of the Superstates: 

• The quadrilateral between Tangier, Brazzaville, Darwin, and Hong Kong; 
• Equatorial Africa; 
• Middle East;
• Southern India; and
•  the Indonesian Archipelago. 
• 
  
• These areas are always occupied by one of the three superstates, but are constantly changing hands.

doubleplus - A prefix used to create the superlative form of an adjective or adverb. (i.e. - pluscold and

doublepluscold meant, respectively, 'very cold' and 'superlatively cold'.

If you want a stronger version of "good", what sense is there in having a whole string of vague

useless words like "excellent" and "splendid" and all the rest of them? "Plusgood" covers the

meaning, or "doubleplusgood" if you want something stronger still.

doublethink - reality control. The power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one's mind

simultaneously, and accept both of them. Here is how Winston Smith described doublethink in the

novel:

To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully

constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be

contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality

while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the

guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into

memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and

above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety:

consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act

of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use

of doublethink.'

duckspeak - (to quack like a duck). To speak without thinking. Can be either good or bad, depending on

who is speaking, and whether they are on your side.

Eastasia - Smallest of the three superstates.(Political System: Death Worship/Obliteration of Self)

Comprised of China and the countries to the south of it, Japan, and a large (but fluctuating) portion of

Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet. Eastasia was Oceania's ally at the start of the book, and by the end

Eastasia had always been Oceania's enemy.

Eurasia - One of the three superstates. (Political System: Neo-Bolshevism) Comprised of the whole

northern part of the European and Asiatic land-mass, from Portugal to the Bering Strait. Eurasia was

Oceania's enemy at the start of the book, and by the end Eurasia had always been Oceania's ally.

Equal – Only in the sense of physically equal, like equal height/size, etc. It does not mean socially – politically or economically – equal, since there is no such concept as political equality in INGSOC's permanent oligarchical hierarchy. 

facecrime - Orwell's definition : "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were

in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic,

an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself -- anything that carried with it the

suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on

your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable

offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called."

Floating Fortress - huge sea bases; gigantic battleships. This term has its roots in the real-life term for

bombers during WWII, flying fortress.

Free – Meaning Negative freedom (without) in a physical sense, such as, "This dog is free from lice", as the concepts of "political freedom" and "intellectual freedom" do not exist in Newspeak

The Golden Country- A beautiful landscape that Winston sees in his dreams. It is a symbol of purity... A

land untouched by humans (and not altered by the government).

Orwell's Description: "The landscape that he was looking at recurred so often in his dreams that

he was never fully certain whether or not he had seen it in the real world. In his waking thoughts

he called it the Golden Country. It was an old, rabbit-bitten pasture, with a foot-track wandering

across it and a molehill here and there. In the ragged hedge on the opposite side of the field the

boughs of the elm trees were swaying very faintly in the breeze, their leaves just stirring in

dense masses like women's hair. Somewhere near at hand, though out of sight, there was a

clear, slow-moving stream where dace were swimming in the pools under the willow trees."

Goldstein, Emmanuel - The supreme enemy of the state. He was once a high-ranking member of the

party, until he supposedly betrayed the party and began engaging in revolutionary activities. He is the

supposed head of the "resistance". Goldstein is to INGSOC what Satan is to Christianity... The

embodiment of pure evil.

Goldstein’s Book - One of the greatest acts of heresy that a citizen of Oceania can possibly commit is to

read Goldstein's Book, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. The government portrays

the book as the centerpiece of the Resistance -- the ultimate tome of all that is evil -- which is the reason

Winston coveted it so. But when you get right down to it, all this book does is explain the structure of

society in straightforward and honest manner. And under a totalitarian regime, that is the single

greatest act of thoughtcrime possible.

goodsex – intercourse between man and wife, for the sole purpose of begetting children and without physical pleasure

goodthinker - One who strongly adheres to all of the principles of Newspeak. (goodthinked, goodthink,

goodthinked, goodthinking, goodthinkful, goodthinking, goodthinkful, goodthinkwise, goodthinker )

hate week - Week in which Oceanian citizens all attend rallies and parades to inflame hatred of Party

enemies and heighten their efforts on behalf of Oceania.

INGSOC - The English Socialist Party

Inner Party. Official party members. Upper class. About six million individuals (or 2%) of the population

in Oceania fall into this class. They possess most of the comforts of today's middle class (with the

addition of two or three servants and possibly a helicopter).

joycamp - Forced-labor camp.

malreported - When the Times reports a fact which the government later deemed untrue. You see, the

government is never “wrong”; the paper merely reports the facts incorrectly. (misprints, malquoted)

memory hole - A system of pipes, similar to pneumatic tubes, which were used to destroy documents. A

document stuffed in the memory hole would be conveniently whisked away to the furnaces below -

quickly & easily wiped from history.

Miniluv - Ministry of Love (law and order). "The Ministry of Love was the really frightening one. There

were no windows in it at all. Winston had never been inside the Ministry of Love, nor within half a

kilometer of it. It was a place impossible to enter except on official business, and then only by

penetrating through a maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests.

Even the streets leading up to its outer barriers were roamed by gorilla-faced guards in black uniforms,

armed with jointed truncheons... One did not know what happened inside the Ministry of Love, but it

was possible to guess: tortures, drugs, delicate instruments that registered your nervous reactions,

gradual wearing-down by sleeplessness and solitude and persistent questioning."

Minipax - Ministry of Peace (war)

Miniplenty - Ministry of Plenty (rationing). The Ministry of Plenty controlled the entire economy.

Minitrue - Ministry of Truth (propaganda) - Department of the government in charge of all record

keeping, history re-writing, and prolefeed: "It was an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white

concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, 300 meters into the air. The Ministry of Truth contained, it

was said, three thousand rooms above ground level, and corresponding ramifications below. Scattered

about London there were just three other buildings of similar appearance and size. So completely did

they dwarf the surrounding architecture that from the roof of Victory Mansions you could see all four of

them simultaneously. They were the homes of the four Ministries between which the entire apparatus

of government was divided."

Newspeak - The official language of Oceania. Newspeak is "politically correct" speech taken to its

maximum extent. Newspeak is based on standard English, but all words describing "unorthodox"

political ideas have been removed. In addition, there was an attempt to remove the overall number of

words in general, to limit the range of ideas that could be expressed.

Oceania - One of the three superstates. (Political System: INGSOC) Winston Smith's home. Comprised of

North and South America, Britain, Australia, and southern portions of Africa. Newspeak is the official

language of Oceania, but standard English is still spoken by many.

Oldspeak - Standard English. Newspeak is based on Oldspeak, with all words which represent unpopular

(or politically incorrect) ideas removed.

 ‘By 2050 — earlier, probably — all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron — they’ll exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually changed into something contradictory of what they used to be. 

oldthink - Holding on to old ideas and patterns of thought not consistent with current government

policy (INGSOC). Maintaining a belief that is no longer acceptable, but was normal just a few years prior.

Outer Party - Middle class. Bureaucrats, and other government employees. Comprising approximately

13% of population. There is a huge gap between the standard of living of Inner and Outer party

members. Outer Party members have very little possessions, and almost no access to basic consumer

goods. All outer party members have a telescreen in every room of their pathetic excuse for an

apartment.

ownlife - Individualism and eccentricity. A desire to do something for your own benefit. (i.e. hobbies,

ownership of property, love, or any other thoughtcrime)

Physical Jerks - morning exercises. Participation was mandatory for all outer party members. These

exercises took place every day 3 minutes after the morning wake-up call, which for office workers was at

7:15 am.

pornosec – subunit of the Department of the Ministry of Truth that produces pornography

prole - proletarians. Approximately 85% of Oceania's population is in this class. Members of the party

viewed them as animals. They are not as rigidly observed as members of the party, and very few (if any)

have telescreens in their home. They are permitted to indulge in acts considered thoughtcrime, simply

because it would be impossible to observe all of them as rigidly as the party observes its own members.

Plus, allowing them to indulge in these "little joys" helps to keep the masses content.

prolefeed - trashy "entertainment" and spurious news which the Party handed out to the masses. This

includes written literature, movies, music, and other various propaganda created for the proles.

Recdep - Records Department - Department of the Ministry of Truth in which Winston Smith worked.

Department responsible for correcting "mistakes" in past newspaper articles.

Reclamation Centre - Colony for children made homeless during the Atomic Wars.

rectify – used by the Ministry of Truth for the deliberate alteration of the past

resistance - The resistance was the revolutionary group which was supposedly led by the arch-traitor,

Emmanuel Goldstein. There is some question as to whether or not this group actually existed. The novel

seems to imply that the resistance was simply fabricated by the government, or at the very least, that

the police had agents posing as real resistance members in order to catch possible recruits.

Room 101 - The final punishment for thoughtcriminals in the Ministry of Love.

"The thing is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world....The worst thing in the world varies

from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by

impalement, or fifty other deaths..... "

sexcrime – any and all sexual activity which is not specifically goodsex

speakwrite - Voice recognition machines. (A fairly 'futuristic' concept, considering that this book was

written in 1948)

Telescreen - Two way television. All party members have one in every room of their apartment. Because

of this, the party member is never out of earshot of the latest party propaganda, and not one second

goes by that they are not under the surveillance of the party. There was no way to change the channel,

and the telescreen could not be turned off except by members of the Inner Party.

Thinkpol - ThoughtPolice. Police force in charge of eliminating crimethink. The thought police monitor

the public by way of spies (narcs), helicopters, and telescreens.

thoughtcrime – the criminal act of holding unspoken beliefs or doubts that oppose or question INGSOC

two minute hate - Daily telescreen specials in which various elements of crimethink were packaged into

a parade of horrible images and sounds, at which, the viewers were expected to boo, hiss, curse. and

release any negative emotions upon.

unperson - Person that has been erased from existence by the government for breaking the law in some

way. A unperson is completely erased from history. All records of their existence is removed from

record, and all party members are expected to removed them from memory. To mention their name is

considered thoughtcrime. This eliminates any possibility of martyrdom.

vaporized - The act of being executed by the state, and having all records of your existence erased.

Becoming an unperson.

versificator - A writing machine. A mechanical device that produced "literature" and "music" for the

masses. This was necessary so that a party member would not be forced to cloud their mind with such

frivolous concepts. It produced trashy newspapers containing almost nothing except sports, crime and

astrology, sensational five-cent novelettes, and sentimental songs.

Youth League - Mandatory children's group under control of the Thought Police. Similar to the "Hitler

Youth.” Their member's primary task is to monitor the activities of their parents.

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