Help Me Relocate Essay on Overly Formal Language
March 1, 2011 12:50 PM   Subscribe

In Comp I we read an essay about the use of overly formal language...

I think the essay was fairly old, maybe written in the 40s or 50s? The author criticized how overly-formal grammar construction obscures meaning and I loved it.

Does this essay ring a bell? As you can imagine, I'm looking to find it again -- my Google Fu has been fudded.

Thanks!!!
posted by alice_curiouse to Writing & Language (4 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
It could be "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell, commonly assigned in freshman comp courses.
posted by AugieAugustus at 12:56 PM on March 1, 2011 [2 favorites]


Sounds like something from Elements of Style, for example this section.
posted by exogenous at 1:36 PM on March 1, 2011


U and Non-U by Nancy Mitford?. Probably not, but I can't resist inserting a Mitford into every conversation.
posted by Duffington at 2:41 PM on March 1, 2011


Was it by any chance an excerpt from On Writing Well?
posted by god hates math at 9:17 PM on March 1, 2011


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