full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Noah Tavlin: What "Orwellian" really means

Unscramble the Blue Letters


If you've watched the news or followed politics chances are you've heard the term Orwellian towrhn around in one context or another. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, or why it's used so often?

The term was named after British ahutor Eric Blair known by his pen name George owrlel. Because his most faomus work, the novel "1984," depicts an oisspvpere society under a totalitarian government, "Orwellian" is often used smpliy to mean authoritarian. But using the term in this way not only fails to fully convey Orwell's message, it actually risks doing precisely what he tried to warn against.

Open Cloze


If you've watched the news or followed politics chances are you've heard the term Orwellian ______ around in one context or another. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, or why it's used so often?

The term was named after British ______ Eric Blair known by his pen name George ______. Because his most ______ work, the novel "1984," depicts an __________ society under a totalitarian government, "Orwellian" is often used ______ to mean authoritarian. But using the term in this way not only fails to fully convey Orwell's message, it actually risks doing precisely what he tried to warn against.

Solution


  1. orwell
  2. famous
  3. simply
  4. author
  5. oppressive
  6. thrown

Original Text


If you've watched the news or followed politics chances are you've heard the term Orwellian thrown around in one context or another. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, or why it's used so often?

The term was named after British author Eric Blair known by his pen name George Orwell. Because his most famous work, the novel "1984," depicts an oppressive society under a totalitarian government, "Orwellian" is often used simply to mean authoritarian. But using the term in this way not only fails to fully convey Orwell's message, it actually risks doing precisely what he tried to warn against.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. author
  2. authoritarian
  3. blair
  4. british
  5. chances
  6. context
  7. convey
  8. depicts
  9. eric
  10. fails
  11. famous
  12. fully
  13. george
  14. government
  15. heard
  16. means
  17. message
  18. named
  19. news
  20. oppressive
  21. orwell
  22. orwellian
  23. pen
  24. politics
  25. precisely
  26. risks
  27. simply
  28. society
  29. stopped
  30. term
  31. thrown
  32. totalitarian
  33. warn
  34. watched
  35. work