
Strictly Speaking
Will America be the Death of English?
Edwin Newman(Author)
AldineTransaction (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 31. July 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-4128-1327-3 (ISBN)
Description
Admiring colleagues have called Edwin Newman an antipollutant, sensibly sardonic, a rare bird, a genial intellect, a man nobody is going to fool anywhere, anytime, anyway. Here, in his first book, these qualities are joined.
Newman focuses on the sorry state of the English language as a reflection of the sorry state of the society. He skewers stereotypes, cliches, errors, and jargon used by weather forecasters, presidents, vice-presidents, sportscasters, diplomats, senators, pollsters, convention nominators, corporation executives, newsmen, advertisers, Watergate defendants, social scientists, college presidents, foreign correspondents, youth. If words are devalued, he argues, so are ideas and so are human beings.
Drawing upon his wealth of experience in newspapers, radio, and television, Newman contends with headwind components, game plans, bottom lines, out of sight, confidence factors, unsightly bulges, nitty gritty, and such. He deflates the pompous, the grandiose, the stilted, and the hollow. He rejoices in language that is lucid, graceful, direct, civilized. The reader rejoices with him.
Newman focuses on the sorry state of the English language as a reflection of the sorry state of the society. He skewers stereotypes, cliches, errors, and jargon used by weather forecasters, presidents, vice-presidents, sportscasters, diplomats, senators, pollsters, convention nominators, corporation executives, newsmen, advertisers, Watergate defendants, social scientists, college presidents, foreign correspondents, youth. If words are devalued, he argues, so are ideas and so are human beings.
Drawing upon his wealth of experience in newspapers, radio, and television, Newman contends with headwind components, game plans, bottom lines, out of sight, confidence factors, unsightly bulges, nitty gritty, and such. He deflates the pompous, the grandiose, the stilted, and the hollow. He rejoices in language that is lucid, graceful, direct, civilized. The reader rejoices with him.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Somerset
United States
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4128-1327-3 (9781412813273)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Edwin Newman was a longtime correspondent for NBC News. Some of his more famous coverage included the Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations, the Arab-Israeli War, the Vietnam cease-fire, and being the first person to interview Emperor Hirohito (Japan). He has been the host for both Speaking Freely and Today and his other books include A Civil Tongue and Your Public Best.