The adjective ‘shell-shocked’ is a largely recent journalistic invention, one that ignores the original trauma as a shorthand for being confused or disoriented. It is not only carelessly used with respect to the original pain but also misapplied: those ‘shell-shocked’ often used tropes of the grotesque rather than of confusion to communicate their experience.

#EdmundBlunden ∩ #language ∩ #shellshock

Orwellian is not an adjective to use lightly. 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is much more than it seems. And a great deal can be missed in pursuit of simple ways to describe the contemporary world.

#Orwell ∩ #language