>>>>It's probably historical: some languages got used to hidden sense and implicit talk. I am not a linguistic expert, so I could be wrong, but it might be that Russian language is the most double-speak phenomenon in this area.
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>>>What about (ouch, forgot the exact name) of the language in "1984"? I read it recently in English.
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>>Isn't it "Newspeak"?
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>Exactly. I was going to write it and something stopped me in the middle.
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>>That expression is hijacked today "Oh, downsizing is newspeak for 'laying people off'"
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>>Just as in "1984" they had "Minitrue" (the Ministry of Truth - in effect lies) nowadays we have the MetPol for London's Metropolitan Police.
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>>Incidentally, recently on a BBC telethon day, the woman who's presented the Big Brother reality show in UK since its start was asked, in a quiz, "Who is the leader of Oceania?" ... and she had no idea.
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>>Similarly many people bandy about the expression "Catch-22" without ever having read the book or really knowing what one is. That annoys me.
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>Honestly I could not read Catch-22. I took it from the library and brought back. I also tried recently to read Takkerey (?) "Vanity Fear" or Bradberry (?) and I brought them back unopened. Ever lack of time or something, don't know.

Catch-22 is one of my most oft-read books and one of the funniest and my favourites.
Our English teacher in school counselled us that you sometimes have to put some effort into a book, at least for the 1st chapter, to get something out.

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>I'll re-try later, I guess.