Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"

Shortly after the Second World War, in 1946, George Orwell published his now-famous essay "Politics and the English Language." As one writer writing to other writers, this essay is an indispensable item in my toolbox as I approach my various projects. Orwell writes:

"Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

In the essay, Orwell lays out several examples of what he considers to be poor writing and then lays out six rules that he suggests may be implemented by English writers seeking to turn the tide back in a progressive direction with regards to our language. It is striking that Orwell wrote this essay in 1946, long before things like Facebook, text messaging, E-mail, instant messaging, Twitter, and online comments sections have dragged the English language through the mud more than just about anything else in the history of the language.

Orwell's six rules are the following:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Any writer endeavoring to produce decent material would be wise to take these rules to heart. Oh that it were so easy as just applying rules....