The New Speak Dictionary (Larp Dictionary)

New speak is a fake language created by George Orwell in his famous novel "Nineteen Eighty Four" It is notably used to rewrite language so the mention of things such as rebellion are written out of existence. New Speak is opposed to modern English referred to as "Old Speak". Instead of being a completely different language, New Speak opts to just replace problematic words in Old Speak (English)

Airstrip One - Formally called England. This term demonstrates Orwell's distain for American influence Europe. It seems that Oceania (America, England, South America, Australia) looks upon Britain as little more than an ‘airstrip’ ... a launching ground into the European theater of war.

artsem - artificial insemination; the government is pushing this method of childbirth as the ONLY method, toaid in the destruction of the family unit.

Atomic Wars - The Atomic Wars took place during the 1950's. Colchester, England is the only city that was specifically mentioned as being nuked, but the book does say that many cities were destroyed in North America, Europe, and Russia. It was out of the chaos of these wars that Party emerged and seized control.

Big Brother - Similar to America's "Uncle Sam", except this individual is the leader –possibly a fictional leader –of the nation. In Oceania, Big Brother is worshiped almost as if he were a god. He represents the omnipresence of the government.

bellyfeel - Full emotional understanding. Blind, enthusiastic acceptance of a concept.

blackwhite- The ability to accept whatever "truth" the party puts out, no matter how absurd it may be. Orwell described it as "...loyal willingness to say black is white when party discipline demands this. It also means the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know black is white, and forget that one has ever believed the contrary.

Chestnut Tree Cafe -The "haunt of painters and musicians. There was no law, not even an unwritten law, against frequenting the Chestnut Tree Cafe, yet the place was somehow ill-omened. The old, discredited leaders of the Party had been used to gather there before they were finally purged.

crimestop -Orwell's definition: "The faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. In short....protective stupidity."

crimethink -To even consider any thought not in linewith the principles of Ingsoc. Doubting any of the principles of Ingsoc. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you can control crime.

Disputed Territories -These are areas of the world NOT permanently included in any of the Superstates: The quadrilateral between Tangier, Brazzaville, Darwin, and Hong Kong; Equatorial Africa; Middle East; Southern India; and the Indonesian Archipelago. These areas are always occupied by one of the three superstates, but are constantly changing hands.

doubleplus-A prefix used to create the superlative form of an adjective or adverb. (i.e. -pluscold and doublepluscold meant, respectively, 'very cold' and 'superlatively cold'. If you want a stronger version of "good", what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like "excellent" and "splendid" and all the rest of them? "Plusgood" covers the meaning, or "doubleplusgood" if you want something stronger still.

doublethink -reality control. The power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accept both of them.

Eastasia -Smallest of the three superstates.(Political System: Death Worship/Obliteration of Self) Comprised of China and the countries to the south of it, Japan, and a large (but fluctuating) portion of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet. Eastasia was Oceania's ally at the start of the book, and by the end Eastasia had always been Oceania's enemy. Eurasia -One of the three superstates. (Political System: Neo-Bolshevism) Comprised of the whole northern part of the European and Asiatic land-mass, from Portugal to the Bering Strait. Eurasia was Oceania's enemy at the start of the book, and by the end Eurasia had always been Oceania's ally.

facecrime -Orwell's definition : "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself --anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called."

Floating Fortress -huge sea bases; gigantic battleships. This term has its roots in the real-life term for bombers during WWII, flying fortress.

The Golden Country-A beautiful landscape that Winston sees in his dreams. It is a symbol of purity... A land untouched by humans (and not altered by the government).

Goldstein, Emmanuel -The supreme enemy of the state. He was once a high-ranking member of the party, until he supposedly betrayed the party and began engaging in revolutionary activities. He is the supposed head of the "resistance".

goodthinker -One who strongly adheres to all of the principles of Newspeak.

hate week -Week in which Oceanian citizens all attend rallies and parades to inflame hatred of Party enemies and heighten their efforts on behalf of Oceania

Ingsoc –English Socialism Inner Party. Official party members. Upper class. About six million individuals (or 2%) of the population in Oceania fall into this class. They possess most of the comforts of today's middle class (with the addition of two or three servants and possibly a helicopter).

joycamp -Gulag with Ingsoc characteristics

malreported -When the Times reports a fact which the government later deemed untrue.

memory hole -A system of pipes, similar to pneumatic tubes, which were used to destroy documents. A document stuffed in the memory hole would be conveniently whisked away to the furnaces below -quickly & easily wiped from history.

Miniluv -Ministry of Love (law and order).

Minipax -Ministry of Peace (war)

Miniplenty -Ministry of Plenty (rationing). The Ministry of Plenty controlled the entire economy.

Minitrue -Ministry of Truth (propaganda) -Department of the government in charge of all recordkeeping, and history re-writing

Newspeak -The official language of Oceania. Newspeak is "politically correct" speech taken to its maximum extent. Newspeak is based on standard English, but all words describing "unorthodox" political ideas have been removed. In addition, there was an attempt to remove the overall number of words in general, to limit the range of ideas that could be expressed.

Oceania -One of the three superstates. (Political System: Ingsoc) Winston Smith's home. Comprised of North and South America, Britain, Australia, and southern portions of Africa. Newspeak is the official language of Oceania, but standard English is still spoken by many.

Oldspeak -Standard English.

oldthink -Holdingon to old ideas and patterns of thought not consistent with current government policy (Ingsoc).

Outer Party -Middle class. Bureaucrats, and other government employees. Comprising approximately 13% of population. There is a huge gap between the standard of living of Inner and Outer party members. Outer Party members have very little possessions, and almost no access to basic consumer goods. All outer party members have a telescreen in every room of their pathetic excuse for an apartment.

ownlife -Individualism and eccentricity. A desire to do something for your own benefit. (i.e. hobbies, ownership of property, love, or any other thoughtcrime)

Physical Jerks -morning exercises. Participation was mandatory for all outer party members. These exercises took place every day 3 minutes after the morning wake-up call, which for office workers was at 7:15 am.

prole -proletarians. Approximately 85% of Oceania's population is in this class. Members of the party viewed them as animals. They are not as rigidly observed as members of the party, and very few (if any) have telescreens in their home. They are permitted to indulge in acts considered thoughtcrime, simply because it would be impossible to observe all of them as rigidly as the party observes its own members. Plus, allowing them to indulge in these "little joys" helps to keep the masses content.

prolefeed -trashy "entertainment" and spurious news which the Party handed out to the masses. This includes written literature, movies, music, and other various propaganda created for the proles.

Recdep -Records Department -Department of the Ministry of Truth in which Winston Smith worked. Department responsible for correcting "mistakes" in past newspaper articles.

Reclamation Centre -Colony for children made homeless during the Atomic Wars.

resistance -The resistance was the revolutionary group which was supposedly led by the arch-traitor, Emmanuel Goldstein. There is some question as to whether or not this group actually existed. The novel seems to imply that the resistance was simply fabricated by the government, or at the very least, that the police had agents posing as real resistance members in order to catch possible recruits. Room 101 -The final punishment for thoughtcriminals in the Ministry of Love.

speakwrite -Voice recognition machines. (A fairly 'futuristic' concept, considering that this book was written in 1948)

Telescreen -Two way television. All party members have one in every room of their apartment

Thinkpol -ThoughtPolice. Police force in charge of eliminating crimethink. The thought police monitor the public by way of spies (narcs), helicopters, and telescreens.

two minute hate -Daily telescreen specials in which various elements of crimethink were packaged into a parade of horrible images and sounds, at which, the viewers were expected to boo, hiss, curseand release any negative emotions upon.

unperson -Person that has been erased from existence by the government for breaking the law in some way.

vaporized -The act of being executed by the state, and having all records of your existence erased. Becoming an unperson.

versificator -A writing machine. A mechanical device that produced "literature" and "music" for the masses. This was necessary so that a party member would not be forced to cloud their mind with such frivolous concepts. It produced trashy newspapers containing almost nothing except sports, crime and astrology, sensational five-cent novelettes, and sentimental songs.

Youth League -Mandatory children's group under control of the Thought Police. Their member's primary task is to monitor the activities of their parents.

There have been addons to the language by various Orwellian ideologies, such as Neo-Plenderplarism and Nullism