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Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language
Death Sentences How Cliches Weasel Words and ManagementSpeak Are Strangling Public Language
Author: Don Watson
A brilliant and scathing polemic about the sorry state of the English language and what we can--and must--do about it. — Do you ever leave work wondering whether all of the words exchanged between you and your colleagues in emails and meetings actually had any meaning? You spend the day touching base and networking, workshopping...  more » and impacting, strategizing and implementing, going forward with your key performance indicators. No wonder you are exhausted when you leave the office! Even as English spreads around the globe, the language itself is shrinking. Our vocabularies are increasingly trimmed of subtlety and obscure words are forbidden unless they qualify as economic or business jargon. The constant pressure in our society to be efficient and productive is working like a noose around the neck of the English language. Don Watson is one of Australia's foremost writers and intellectuals. In Death Sentences, he takes up the fight against the pestilence of bullet points, the scourge of buzzwords, and the dearth of verbs in public discourse. He encourages us to wage war against the personal mission statement and the Powerpoint essay and to take back our language from the corporate wordsmiths and marketeers. BACKCOVER: Praise for Don Watson's Death Sentences:

“Don Watson has written a fine and necessary book. Any citizen who neglects to read it does so at his or her peril.”

-Lewis H. Lapham, editor of Harper's Magazine

"[a] marvelous polemic..."

—forbes.com

“…captures the powerlessness and frustration we feel when confronted by meaningless words delivered with authority.”

—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Watson makes an eloquent, elegant, and sometimes scathing case for taking back language from those who would trip it of all color and emotion and, therefore, of all meaning.

—Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist)

“…many lessons and insights in this book…”

—Leigh Buchanan, Harvard Business Review

“[Watson is] always clear and precise, even when exposing the verbal pollution that passes for wisdom in the public realm.”

-Toronto Star
ISBN-13: 9781592402052
ISBN-10: 1592402054
Publication Date: 5/18/2006
Pages: 208
Edition: Reprint
Rating:
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 1
2.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Gotham
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

 reviewed Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language on + 186 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very academic but helpful in providing insight into the Doublespeak we are now surrounded by.
Read All 2 Book Reviews of "Death Sentences How Cliches Weasel Words and ManagementSpeak Are Strangling Public Language"

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 buzzby avatar reviewed Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language on + 6062 more book reviews
Well, I never quite agreed with him. I find you have to use complex and precise sentences to convey the true meaning, sometimes. I think that there's a lack of ability to concentrate enough on the written word today that has forced writing to be simplified. It isn't necessarily clearer.


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