The choice of our blog's name is based on the well-known phrase "London Calling" and Queen Elizabeth II.
"This is London Calling" was the opening sentence of the BBC news used during the World War II and also, the name of the magazine that contained a list of the programs if the BBC World Shortwave Radio Broadcasting Service.
Queen Elizabeth, has been for 60 years ruling Great Britain and represents the nation as a whole.
This blog will focus on the language used in the media (newspapers and magazines, TV programs...) as well as the language used in British films, dialects and by the most influential figures in Britain today.

Poor Use of English Language in Politics

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, 5 December 2012
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The function of politics is to serve the public and provide the members of the public with the truth on matters concerning it as well as trying to solve any problems that may appear, with honesty.So the language of officials should be accesible and understandable as well as honest.However,when it comes to government officials and politicians in the UK, the language used is distorted, it is used in a way that misleads the public and is no longer the language “of the real world”.

As George Orwell put it “political language was designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind”. Language used by politicians and civil servants serves to disquise some wrong they may have done, something that would be a source of shame to them, something that does not fit with the image a politician must have. Politicians also use language called “grandiloquently opaque language”, to seem as if they are saying something extremely important, when in reality what they are talking about is a trivial matter.

Euphemisms such as “downsizing”, “realignment of resources” “efficiency savings” are being used instead of budget or staff cuts.The civil service uses the term “delighted” for nearly everything the ministers are asked to do. Politicians say they “stand ready” to deal with any problems that may appear, but this actually means they will not do anything unless it is urgent and absolutely necessary.

The problem is that when the members of the public need to understand what is being said to them for official business and transactions with administratives of the government, the language used is too official and hence the public cannot make sense out of what they are reading.This leads to individuals avoiding to deal with matters concerning the public authorities.

A suggestion is to rid of the phrases, words, the language in general, used to mislead the public in order for the members of the latter to be able to communicate and understand government officials effectively.

Source: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmpubadm/17/1702.htm

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