Orwell, George — Nineteen eighty-four [614]

‘I had been hoping for an opportunity of talking to you,’ he said. ‘I was reading one of your Newspeak articles in the Times the other day. You take a scholarly interest in Newspeak, I believe?’ … Winston had recovered part of his self-possession. ‘Hardly scholarly,’ he said. ‘I’m only an amateur. It’s not my subject. I have never had anything to do with the actual construction of the language.’ — Orwell, George, Nineteen eighty-four, 614

Note

The coded negotiation of the meeting is conducted entirely through polite small talk about lexicography; the exchange’s danger lies entirely in what is not said.