Verbal False Limbs

Operators, or verbal false limbs. These save the trouble of picking out appropriate verbs and nouns, and at the same time pad each sentence with extra syllables which give it an appearance of symmetry.

George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” Horizon, April 1946

Strive to be patient with other humans

Especially when you have fallen ill

Their mechanical bromides and odd grins

Are evidence of their awkward good will

They will tell you about their own burdens

To reassure you that your pain is shared;

Perhaps if foul things grow in all gardens

Then yours is no worse, with others compared

Tales of miraculous recovery

They will wind about you like bandages

As if someone else’s sunny story

Will multiply your own advantages

You will be told to stay optimistic

While fear and disgust drip from friendly eyes

The web site of some guru or mystic

Will be served to you with your fish and fries

Stock phrases and gazes will abound

Of bold, new words be glad, when they are found