Newspeak

**Newspeak**, as imagined by George Orwell in 1984, is language designed not to express thoughts, but to prevent them. It is a form of Free Speech.

Its genius, if that’s the word, lies in subtraction: reducing vocabulary until nuance becomes impossible. Why say “bad” when you can say “ungood”? Why have a spectrum of opinions when “doubleplusgood” will do?

Unlike a koan, which opens the mind by quietly subverting it, or an oxymoron, which playfully holds contradiction in a single breath, Newspeak narrows the world. It’s a linguistic vice, squeezing thought until only obedience remains. Where a koan invites awakening, Newspeak ensures there’s nothing left to wake up.