oldspeak

[ ohld-speek ]

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) standard English, in contrast to English that is overly technical, politically correct, euphemistic, etc. Compare newspeak.

Word History and Origins

Origin of oldspeak¹

Coined by George Orwell in his novel, 1984 (1949)

Example Sentences

Let us discuss this in oldspeak, or standard English — not Newspeak.

From New York Times

Newspeak is the successor of Oldspeak, or Standard English.

From The New Yorker

It does not succeed in its project: the appendix is written in sure-handed, rigorous Oldspeak.

From The New Yorker

The appendix is written in forbidden Oldspeak, and its last word is penned in 2050.

From Los Angeles Times

“Even when you write it you’re still thinking in Oldspeak. I’ve read some of those pieces that you write in the Times occasionally. They’re good enough, but they’re translations. In your heart you’d prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?”

From Literature