orwell and esperanto

Why George Orwell hated Esperanto: “Apparently, Orwell, during his down-and-out phase in Paris, had to accept a room in the lodgings of a cousin. The fact that she and her live-in lover spoke only Esperanto together at home — a language he could not understand — left him less than enthusiastic.”
There is something about a couple speaking only Esperanto to one another that is really romantic. And I’m not even kidding.

5 thoughts on “orwell and esperanto”

  1. It was just a modest proposal. But not in a Jonathan Swift sort of way, don’t worry. I’m not planning to eat you. (Though I might be game at some point if you answer my original query in the affirmative.) Translate roughly here.

  2. Did anyone else get, as a rough translation, “Cu you would husband with me?” That didn’t help.

  3. I think the whole IDEA of Esperanto is romantic, in a kind of hopeless and idealistic way. For years, I’ve wanted to put together some sort of fragile and sad literary collection entitled “Esperanto”.

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