Staff Picks: Books, June 18, 2009 I Love It When You Talk Retro Retrotalk and retroterms. These words are used by Ralph Keyes to describe the subject of his 2009 book I Love It When You Talk Retro. The main point of this volume is to give histories of words and phrases, the full meaning …
Sweeps4Bloggers
Sweeps4Bloggers Euphemania is just perfect for my family. You can read it straight through or it’s nice to leave it sitting out and pick it up every now and then for a little fun. This book is great for anyone who loves trivia or has a quirky sense of humor. It fascinates and amuses. I’ve …
Amazon UK Reviews: Dave Mearns
***** 5 stars ‘Unmentionables’ is an analysis of the use of euphenism in our language. The days are long gone when we can use straightforward language to describe everyday events. Instead we must dress our concepts with ever refreshed new clothes so that they are fit for polite society and change those clothes when the …
DNA Daily News & Analysis, Mumbai
When you can’t call a spade a spade To cover our ears when we say what we simply must not say, we constantly coin instead words that are more muted and polite. Thus underdeveloped countries became developing ones, a little bastard is a lovechild and the stock market collapse is an equity retreat. We are …
PhillyBurbs.com
This book is the bee’s knees. I have no idea what that means, June 30, 2009 I have a love/hate relationship with expressions and phrases. I use them constantly; hair of the dog, hold your horses, juggernaut and selling like hotcakes. That last expression is actually one of the reasons I also hate certain expressions. …
Biblioklept
Biblioklept In his new book Euphemania, a cultural history of euphemisms, Ralph Keyes takes a frank and often bawdy look at why we use euphemisms in social and political discourse, even when such evasions can degrade communication. “We all rely on euphemisms to tiptoe around what makes us uneasy, and have done so for most …