What is newspeak?

Do you really know?
Mar 15, 2021 5 min
What is newspeak?
Open in Clue

About this episode

What is newspeak? Thanks for asking! Lockdown, patient zero, social distancing and PCR tests - the last year has seen the emergence of many new terms due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some have labelled this vocabulary Coronaspeak. At Do You Really Know, we’ve covered several such topics to decipher their meaning. But today we will be discussing a different type of newspeak. The idea of newspeak didn’t emerge at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic; rather it was invented by George Orwell in his dystopian novel 1984. The book sheds light on the mechanisms behind modern-day thought control.  So what is newspeak like as a language? Can it be learned? How is newspeak relevant in the 21st century? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: What is class-passing? What is the Matilda Effect? What is cyclothymia? A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to this episode in English to learn English

Podcast episodes are one of the highest-density ways to absorb English at native pace. What is newspeak? from Do you really know? gives you natural dialogue, unscripted speech, and vocabulary that actually appears in real conversations.

In the Clue app, every word in the transcript is tappable. Tap an unknown word, see the translation in your language instantly, and keep listening without breaking flow.