A day in the life of an Andover FC fan..

Yesterday was a nightmare. Supporting Andover you don't get a brilliant day out, and come home with 3 points very often, and yesterday didn't change that.

Setting off at 1:30 thinking; away to Mangotsfield. Fairly easy hour and a quarter drive and the possibility of 3 points. Wrong. Getting lost in (one of the) arse end(s) of Bristol, nothing to do with my map reading, means we are late to the game. I get a text at 3:03 saying we are 1-0 already, bollocks. Finally we find the road the ground is on, and within 5 minutes I get another text to say 1-1, game on. We pull into the car park and find no spaces, so have to make due with a space in the rugby club car park next door. Scampering out, we turn a blind eye to the signs stating the car park was for patrons of the rugby club only, and make our way towards the turnstiles. We are greeted by a loud cheer from the home supporters. 12 minutes gone and we are 2-1 down. Thinking we have missed all the goals there were to be, we take our spot and cheer on the team. The rest of the first half is just as open as the first 12 minutes sounded and Andover head in at half time leading 3-2. Half time pint down, confidence high, back out for the second half.

In terms of possession and opportunities, the second half was fairly even, that was apart from the 2 Mangotsfield goals. Here we go again, leading a game, only to be beaten late on, until.....penalty. A Mangotsfield defender handballs in the area and the Andover captain has a chance to equalise. Does he? Does he balls...The keeper falls to his left to collect the ball fairly comfortably. Oh well...a good performance, a narrow defeat, always next week and all that.

That should of been the end of the annoyances. That was until a wrong turn ended up taking us on a 10 mile detour, through some Postman Pat villages, in the pissing rain. Once in Bath we were at a stand still in traffic for a good half hour, until it dawned on us that we had hit the traffic coming out of Bath City's FA cup match and the traffic going into Bath Rugby club for their match. 2 and a half hours later I am home. Cold, tired and disappointed. Ah...the beautiful game.

Orwellian views on English language

According to George Orwell;

"Political language -- and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists -- is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

It is this political language that Orwell blames for the failings of the English Language. Combining "Politics and the English Language" and the lecture last Thursday, we can see how the use of this bad English is having a huge effect on the way that we speak and write. It is from political speeches and the unwillingness to state plainly what we mean that people are taking new ways of speaking and writing and employing them on the English language.

Orwell described major issues in the way language is used, describing three common faults:

1. Dying Metaphors - The use of metaphors that are either no longer relevant in the context in which they are used, or where the meaning of such metaphors is lost or not fully understood by the writer.
2. Verbal False Limbs - Using verbs in phrase, rather than using single verbs that could be used just as easily. Orwell uses the example of using the phrase "render inoperative" instead of simply saying "break".
3. Pretentious Diction - The use of words used purely to dress up simple statements and to give the writer a sense of self importance.

In my opinion, it is the use of pretentious diction that is easiest to spot being used in speech or writing. Sometimes, if not all time, you get a sense that the use of such words and phrases is merely an ego boosting opportunity, and that using this language gives the writer a sense of self worth and cultural importance.

Back at school we were always told to describe things in detail, but surely as Orwells work implies, we should get to the point as quickly as we can. Being on a journalism degree, this is even more important. Get the facts; who, when, where, what, and eventually why. There is simply no need to mess about describing something in ridiculous amounts of detail.

Orwell describes how the decline of good English has spread and become the convenient norm. He talks how effects can become a cause and a vicious circle can begin. He uses the analogy of a man turning to drink;

“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”

Despite being written over 60 years ago, Orwells article is still relevant today. As a reader we accept all these little inaccuracies and sloppy language, but it is only when you contrast this unnecessary language with plain, straight to the point speech that you can really see how improper the English language has become.