Sourov DEB

Orwell’s Rules: Why Short Words Win in English

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by

Sourov
in

CEFR C1  ·  5 min

From my experience:

I rewrote my professional biography four times. Each draft was shorter than the last. The fourth draft — eleven lines, no adjectives I couldn’t justify — was the one that landed me two callbacks in the same week. George Orwell wrote his six rules in 1946. Every professional writer I have encountered since then has independently arrived at the same conclusions.

Today's focus: Orwell’s six rules for plain English: cut, shorten, activate, clarify

Orwell’s six rules (Politics and the English Language, 1946):

  1. Never use a long word where a short one works.
  2. If it is possible to cut a word, cut it.
  3. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  4. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon if an everyday English word exists.
  5. Never use a long word if a short one will do.
  6. Break any of these rules before writing something barbarous.

In practice: utilize → use · facilitate → help · at this point in time → now · with regard to → about · in order to → to · due to the fact that → because

Examples in context

‘We utilized our available resources to facilitate the process.’ → ‘We used what we had to make it work.’ (shorter, clearer, stronger)
‘At this point in time, the situation is complex.’ → ‘Right now, this is complicated.’ (cut: 4 words become 1)
‘Results were delivered by the team ahead of schedule.’ → ‘The team delivered early.’ (active, cut, shorter)

Try it — click to reveal the answer

▶ Rewrite using Orwell’s rules: ‘It is of the utmost importance that we commence the facilitation of the onboarding process at the earliest possible opportunity.’
✓ Answer: ‘We need to start onboarding now.’ (or: ‘Start onboarding as soon as possible.’)
Every Orwell rule violated in the original: long words, unnecessary words, passive buried in nominalisations.
▶ Is the passive always wrong?
✓ Answer: No. Use passive when the actor is unknown or unimportant — ‘The building was constructed in 1890.’ Orwell’s rule is ‘avoid it where you can use the active’, not ‘never use it.’
Rule 6 applies: break any rule before writing something barbarous. Context matters. Orwell himself used the passive.
▶ Which word is shorter and clearer? (a) ‘utilize’   (b) ‘use’
✓ Answer: (b) ‘use’ — three letters vs seven, and identical in meaning.
Every time you write ‘utilize’, ask: does the extra syllable carry any extra meaning? Usually: no. Use ‘use.’
⚡ 5-second rule:

Before submitting anything: cut every word you can. Replace long words with short ones. Make passives active. If the sentence survives the cut, the word was dead weight.

Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification. Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard.

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