68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Petty And Just Plain Wrong, June 24, 2008
Wow, was I surprised to see that my report will be in the minority here. I thought more people would leave this book with the same impression I did. I was hanging around at a Barnes and Noble and picked this book up. I enjoyed the first two entries I read, so bought the book for reading in my...ahem, boudoir -- I enjoy books with short sections that can occupy my brief time therein.
The author promises to point out trite and hackneyed abuses of the language, but what I found was a simpleton's guide to expressions that had grown old and repetitive to him. Why would I call the author a simpleton? Because he is just plain wrong on over half of the expressions that he criticizes. He makes fun of some items correctly, such as abuses of "literally" and "unique", or some overworked catchphrases like "Where's the beef?", but then loses it.
Many of the expressions he abhors are actually rich in history, and represent an admirable nod to tradition, human experience, etymology, and different eras. For example, he hates, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." and says it's silly for modern, urbanized people to be talking about chickens. Really? The "chickens" are from Aesop's Fable 'The Milk Maid' and date back to 600 BC. An old reference, for sure, but I think the expression has proven itself to have some staying power. For this writer to come along and say we should abandon classic references to such seminal works as Aesop's Fables, just because he's bored of hearing it, is just him griping - and demonstrating an ignorance of literature, history, and etymology. How can one write a book on language with that handicap?
Many others of his gripes fall into the "you don't own chickens, so find a better way to express yourself" formula. His is a sad, robotic interpretation of language. Do we really have to own chickens to talk about them, or would the world be more colorful if we allow (or rather encourage) people to talk with allegory, metaphor, and parable?
He lambastes several business expressions, and is right about a few of them. But most of them have very specific meanings, and the words were invented for a reason - to fill a hole that language didn't cover. A lot of words that he would banish are actually very useful so long as they are used correctly. "Downsized" and "Synergy" are two business words the author hates, but I'll stand to defend. When a person loses a job because a company "downsized" what it means is, yes they were fired, but through no fault of their own. That is a very different meaning than "fired" which the author says is more to the point. "Synergies", meanwhile, is certainly used too often, but nevertheless does fit on occasion: getting your chocolate in my peanut butter comes to mind. I don't agree with the author that we should banish the words.
Other expressions he dislikes are actually very useful shorthand that people can use to effectively communicate with one another. Is the expression "it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack" really so terrible, or is it actually more colorful and quicker to the point than saying "it will be extremely hard to find, because we are looking for something very small in a very big area of possible locations"? The author says the latter is preferable, because it uses plain English instead of a tired, overworked idiom. I say the former is better because it is 'language shorthand'.
Basically, the book was probably based on a few good entries, then the author had to fill up another hundred pages, and just grabbed whatever expressions he could think of, and criticized them. It looks to me like good expressions are thrown in with bad. Just to annoy the author, let me say that he has "thrown the baby out with the bathwater".
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Literally, The Best Language Book Ever, May 16, 2008
I bought this book after hearing the author go off on a funny rant about the word "issue" during a radio interview. When exactly DID "issue" stop meaning "topic" and become yet another synonym for "problem"? It was this Andy-Rooney-with-a-sense-of-humor approach to language that sold me on "Literally, the Best Language Book Ever: Annoying Words and Abused Phrases You Should Never Use Again."
The book covers hundreds of communication missteps, but deals with each one in an easily digested 1-3 paragraphs. The tone is lighthearted, but the importance of clear communication is never trivialized. It's probably the easiest and most enjoyable book about language that I've read.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Face it, we are all guilty. We are human and can not be right 110% of the time., May 15, 2008
When I first saw the book advertised, I made a list of the phrases and comments I thought would be covered. While not a comprehensive listing, the author really hit a home run with the breadth of comments. Some of the offending statement do make commentary more colorful but typically, they add words without understanding whether their usage is really critical to the meaning. In a way, this is using the extreme form of euphemisms and, by virtue of doing so, obscuring the meaning of the statement being made. The book does not seem intended to be deeply thought provoking and, while I did not agree with everything, I did find myself strongly agreeing with quite a few of his observations. It can be read quickly in one sitting or can be used to provide shorter, entertaining breaks in your day.
Many of these phrases are just an example of our need to be constantly talking -- constantly making noise in an attempt to turn the right phrase to make us appear glib and entertaining. I enjoyed the author taking apart language as it is commonly used. Was that literally or figuratively taking apart? Read it and decide which is correct.
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