Today I was subjected to the worst thing in the world. I attended a meeting, at my place of work in room 101. In point of fact the meeting was an uneventful one. There was no O’brien threatening me with a ravenous rat in a cage which, if released would tear me apart. Nor where there any posters with the slogan
“Big Brother is watching you”.
Yet, for all that it was still room 101. My uneventful meeting got me thinking, not for the first time how words and phrases find their way into common usage, often with those employing them never having read the publications from which they eminate. How many viewers of the television programme, “Big Brother” have actually read George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four? I suspect the answer is that a majority of viewers have not read Orwell’s novel, although most would, I think entertain a vague notion that “Big Brother” and room 101 originated in Orwell’s dystopian novel. It is rather sad that Orwell’s critique of totalitarianism has been reduced to the level of popular entertainment by the TV show, “Big Brother”.
K Morris - Poet 
Might the reason be that times and people change?
That is an interesting question. Orwell published his novel on or around 1948 and it was, I believe originally going to be entitled Nineteen Fourty-Eight, (transpose the digits and you have NNineteen Eighty-Four). The references to bombed out buildings and to rationing in the book reflect the state of the UK in the years immediately following the war. Again the author’s critique of totalitarianism was influenced by the horrors of Stalinism and the atrocities of Nazi Germany. In some ways Orwell’s novel was a product of it’s time (as mentioned above). However the constant presence of the telescreen monitoring not only the movements of the population but their words also could be seen as Orwell foreseeing the introduction of widespread CCTV (so futuristic in that sense). I know that Nineteen Eighty-Four remains one of the texts taught in school literature classes so people should be familiar with the novel. To me programmes such as “Big Brother” represent the worst kind of television – voyeurism where the audience watch what should be private activities undertaken by total strangers. Many thanks for your comment. Kevin
We are in a land of plenty and suck the goodness out of everything. Security cameras in today’s world are Big Brother because of our technological expertise.
I agree with you that security cameras are overused. I think they have their place in certain specific circumstances (for example in a spot notorious for muggings). However all the security cameras in the world won’t stop anarchy and chaos if large segments of the population lose faith in governments. I feel concerned when I hear about security cameras in schools to preven t bullying and other forms of anti-social behaviour. Obviously no right thinking person wants children to be bullied. However there is a loss of privacy for the majority of students who don’t engage in anti-social behaviour, plus cameras are dealing with the symptoms rather than tackling the underlying causes.
I know. Sigh.
Your first paragraph made me chuckle, of all the places to have a meeting. It’s a wonder that there isn’t an etiquette of sorts in the world of room numberers whereby they omit the aforementioned 101 in the same way that a lot of streets don’t have a number 13.
I have also on many occasions had similar thoughts to yours regarding the fictional origins of everyday common phrases. In many ways it is a fine testament to the richness and diversity of human language and thought that it continues to develop and be influenced in lots of different ways. Modern science is littered with phrases and words that were originally coined in science fiction novels. And phrases like ‘Catch-22’ as used by Joseph Heller in the novel of the same name to describe a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules, have become part of that rich influence on language from fiction.
I understand your thoughts regarding whether people who now watch ‘Big Brother’ know about the original usage of the term, although as you point out, the sadness lies more in the irony of what ‘Big Brother’ has now come to represent in our world.
We don’t expect that everyone can be aware of the origins of phrases and words and therefore; it is a good thing that people like us who have blogs will sometimes write about such things, which in turn may enlighten some of those people who weren’t aware of the origins.
It is believed that William Shakespeare invented over 1700 words, many of which we still use today, words such as bump, swagger, obscene and luggage are first attributed to him. And also, the wonderful nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass’, gave us the deliciously imaginative words like ‘chortle — which means a laugh somewhere between a chuckle and a snort’ and ‘galumphing — that is to say, galloping triumphantly’. All of which I’m sure you will agree are a fine testament to the richness and diversity of human language.
Long may it continue and long may our secondary roles as informative outlets in the blog world continue alongside it also.
Thanks for writing your excellent article, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and writing my response to it.
I live in a flat with the number 13 … perhaps I should watch my back! Thanks for your fascinating insight into Shakespeare and language more generally. I had no idea that the bard had added quite so many words to our mother tongue. You are right, we bloggers can, in our own small way help to inform readers about the origin of terms such as “Big Brother”. Thanks again. Kind regards. Kevin
I completely agree. Same goes for Catch 22 and Joseph Heller, although I admit that novel wasn’t as important in a social context.