Socialism.? But this is not an adequate
translation. To begin with, in order to grasp the full meaning of the
Newspeak sentence quoted above, one would have to have a clear idea of
what is meant by Ingsoc. And in addition, only a person thoroughly
grounded in Ingsoc could appreciate the full force of the word
bellyfeel, which implied a blind, enthusiastic acceptance difficult to
imagine today; or of the word oldthink, which was inextricably mixed up
with the idea of wickedness and decadence. But the special function of
certain Newspeak words, of which oldthink was one, was not so much to
express meanings as to destroy them. These words, necessarily few in
number, had had their meanings extended until they contained within
themselves whole batteries of words which, as they were sufficiently
covered by a single comprehensive term, could now be scrapped and
forgotten. The greatest difficulty facing the compilers of the Newspeak
Dictionary was not to invent new words, but, having invented them, to
make sure what they meant: to make sure, that is to say, what ranges o