--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never use a metaphor, simile, or other…" description: "\"Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/george-orwell-57_active_never-use-a-metaphor-simile-or-other-fig_895780.jpg" --- # Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech… ![“Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/george-orwell-57_active_never-use-a-metaphor-simile-or-other-fig_895780.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/george-orwell-57_active_never-use-a-metaphor-simile-or-other-fig_895780.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/george-orwell-57_active_never-use-a-metaphor-simile-or-other-fig_895780.jpg) > “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates clear, concise writing by avoiding overused figurative language, long words, passive voice, foreign or technical terms, and breaking rules only when necessary. **In simple terms:** Write plainly and directly. Key Takeaway Prefer simplicity over complexity. Themes clarity conciseness style communication editing Mood analytical pragmatic critical Type advice instructional When to use this quote - academic essays - business reports - journalism - technical documentation - everyday conversation Key Concepts rhetoric linguistics cognitive load Questions to Reflect On - When does simplicity hinder meaning? - How can you balance clarity with expressive depth? A Different Perspective Over-simplification may strip nuance or rhetorical effect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday/) [Figures of speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures-of-speech/) [Jargon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jargon/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Passive voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passive-voice/) [Simile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simile/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) ## Related quotes > [Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/never-use-a-metaphor-simile-or-other-figure-of-speech-which-you-are-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/never-use-a-foreign-phrase-a-scientific-word-or-a-jargon-word-if-you/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Very Like a Whale One thing that literature would be greatly the better for Would be a more restricted employment by authors of simile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/very-like-a-whale-one-thing-that-literature-would-be-greatly-the/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I love using long, fancy words but have learned - mostly from writing my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/it-s-so-easy-to-use-tired-shopworn-figures-of-speech-i-love-using/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [You use metaphor to make yourself feel at home in the world. You use metaphor to extinguish the unknown. The problem is the unknown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roni-horn/you-use-metaphor-to-make-yourself-feel-at-home-in-the-world-you-use/) [Roni Horn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roni-horn/) > [In the simplest formulation, when we use a metaphor we have two thoughts of different things active together and supported by a single word,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-a-richards/in-the-simplest-formulation-when-we-use-a-metaphor-we-have-two/) [I. A. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-a-richards/) > [There is something about the way that Greek poets, say Aeschylus, use metaphor that really attracts me. I don't think I can imitate it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/there-is-something-about-the-way-that-greek-poets-say-aeschylus-use/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-it-is-possible-to-cut-a-word-out-always-cut-it-out/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“At its simplest, the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-its-simplest-the-parable-is-a-metaphor-or-simile-drawn-from-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Metaphors failed him, then. He had gone beyond the world of metaphor and simile into the place of things that are , and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/metaphors-failed-him-then-he-had-gone-beyond-the-world-of-metaphor/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [He had gone beyond the world of metaphor & simile into the place of things that are, and it was changing him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/he-had-gone-beyond-the-world-of-metaphor-simile-into-the-place-of/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I'll buy metaphor, but simile's a cop-out used by scaredycats who won't commit to anything. Simile's for cowards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-garner/i-ll-buy-metaphor-but-simile-s-a-cop-out-used-by-scaredycats-who-won/) [Alan Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-garner/) > [When you're looking around for metaphor or simile, I do think it's often helpful to keep inside the world of the book, to gather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-newman/when-you-re-looking-around-for-metaphor-or-simile-i-do-think-it-s/) [Leigh Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-newman/) > ['TIME's spell-check always admonishes me whenever I compose a sentence in the passive voice, a warning that is often ignored by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-corliss/time-s-spell-check-always-admonishes-me-whenever-i-compose-a-sentence/) [Richard Corliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-corliss/) > [“Except in stock locutions, such as "You were paid yesterday," "The Germans were defeated," or "The project was abandoned," the passive voice is virtually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/except-in-stock-locutions-such-as-you-were-paid-yesterday-the-germans/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Active quotes > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. 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Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. 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That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/) [Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/) Browse all 2,212 Active quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 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