Book for Writers, Linguists, Anthropolgists and Lovers of Language by Carolyn Howard-Johnson • Jan. 30, 2012 (originally reviewed for MyShelf.com) If you don’t love language, it’s a good bet you aren’t a writer. But if you’re a writer, reading more about language (linguistics (?)) may not be high on your list of priorities. It’s so …
reviews-euphemania
The Moscow News
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a…what? by Mark H. Teeter at 17/10/2011 At the end of the movie Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler leaves his mercurial wife Scarlett with perhaps the most memorable line in the history of cinema. To the entreaties “Where shall I go? What shall I do?”, the dashing Captain …
Toward Freedom
Euphemisms: The Politics of Language June 16, 2011 Reviewed: Euphemania: Our Love Affair with Euphemisms, by Ralph Keyes. New York. Little, Brown and Company, 2010. As Ralph Keyes notes in his book Euphemania, “Euphemisms can have a bright side and a dark side.” They can be a source of evasion, a way to avoid topics …
Star Tribune
EUPHEMANIA By Ralph Keyes (Little, Brown and Co., 279 pages, $24.99) Ever ponder what makes a nacho chip “authentic” or “restaurant-style”? Or why it’s a “courtesy call” when the credit-card company tries to push something over the phone? Ralph Keyes explores such obfuscation when it comes to food, drunkenness, medicine, the military, money, sex, death …
Figuring Out the Small Stuff
Book Review: Euphemania by Ralph Keyes It took me longer to finish this book than the others. Probably because it’s a nonfiction book that talks about euphemisms. Since it wasn’t a story with a plot, I didn’t read it as consistently. So, here is my first nonfiction read of the year…Euphemania: Our Love Affair with …
Amazon Review
***** 5 Stars Love this book – I actually bought two – one for me and I sent one to my daughter. It is a really interesting and easy read that makes you think about where some of our language has come from. Will pass it on to others when I’ve finished it.