1984 Quotes
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It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well. It isn't only the synonyms; there are also the antonyms. After all, what justification is there for a word, which is simply the opposite of some other word? A word contains its opposite in itself.
Context
Syme sure knows how to be wise and creepy all at the same time.
In 1984 Our resident Newspeaker, Syme, says these words to Winston in the cafeteria at work. Winston brought up Newspeak, and Syme, who's been working on the latest edition, is eager to chat about all the innovations.
The whole point of Newspeak, as Syme explains, is to make it impossible for people to commit thoughtcrime. If no words exist to express concepts like "freedom," then thoughts contrary to the political doctrine of Big Brother will slowly die, until Oldspeak, with all its "useless shades of meaning," will be gone for good.
Unfortunately...so will Syme, who is a little too smart for his own good (unbad?).
Where you've heard it
This quote comes from a classic dystopian novel—and a classic work of political satire—so of course you've heard it quoted in articles about freedom of speech and other such liberties that folks feel are being threatened by the Big Bad Gov.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Depends if you're comparing Newspeak to texting.