"One can cure oneself of the not un- formation by memorizing this sentence: A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across a not ungreen field."
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" (HT: Kroeger)
Orwell also argued that these prescriptive rules should be followed in language use:
i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
My take? Good rules for writing or speaking more vividly and concisely, but they are not universal. What about situations that require rhetorical effect, technical jargon, or persuasion?!
Here's the skinny, Orwell. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. If these rules were always, with no exception, used in speech, language would seem colossally utilitarian-focused rather than beauty-focused To recapitulate, it's not very fun, Orwell - nope, not un-wearisome at all. And at the risk of becoming a bête noir, what is considered outright barbarous?
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