Strictly Speaking: Will America be the Death of English? 1st Edition

by Edwin Newman (Author)

15 ratings

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“It is incumbent upon every individual to read Strictly Speaking at this point in time and in the context of where we are trending word wise. Ed Newman—scholar, wit, raconteur, and stylist—has written a brilliant, curmudgeonly book. It may even be viable.” —Tom Wicker, columnist, The New York Times

“I have been of the opinion that the English language in America would disintegrate some Sunday afternoon between the beginning of ‘Meet the Press’ and the end of ‘Issues and Answers’ in a presidential election year and during the professional football season. Nothing would be left but a heap of unrelated adjectives and adverbs. On reading Edwin Newman, I am convinced that death and disintegration could come at any time in any place.” —Eugene J. McCarthy, former U.S. Senator, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of Political Science, New School for Social Research

About the Author

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (July 31, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1412813271
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1412813273
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.01 x 0.53 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,054,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews:
15 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Drew Flowers

Buy it, read it, and enjoy it!

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2006

Verified Purchase

This book should be standard reading for anybody that attempts to speak or write English. Especially for those producing works for publication (marketing, PR, news, radio, etc.). Newman's wit and experience deliver an excellent journey into why the English language (spoken or written) is the mess it is today.

An easy book to read, it will make many people laugh out loud as they realize the mistakes/humor/stupidity/etc. that dominate modern English.

Get a copy, it's a bargain in used form. Read it and pass along to others to read. Who knows? Maybe if enough people read this book English could be saved from certain demise...

Heck, I'd rate it 6 stars if I could...

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Flazatty

Humorous Accurate Critique of the Use of English

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent analysis of the misuse of the English language, but his next book, "A Civil Tongue," is better.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J. Giesige

We have moved on

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2009

Verified Purchase

I had hoped for one of those grammar wonk books so dear to the heart of English majors, and I suppose at one time this would have fit the bill but its anecdotes and examples are all badly dated. It feels as if it is based on arguments that we settled long ago. It is proof positive that not all language is timeless.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

JDD

STRICTLY SPEAKING by Edwin Newman

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2009

Strictly Speaking: Will America Be the Death of English? is a 1974 critique of the decline and abuse of the English language by journalist and former NBC News correspondent Edwin Newman. Newman is not an advocate for Standard English for its own sake, and he is not against the natural evolution of language. His biggest complaints are with politicians, members of the media (The New York Times in particular), and those in academia, who deliberately use language to sensationalize, obfuscate, and bewilder. He writes "for a world from which the stilted and pompous phrase, the slogan and the cliché, have not been banished - that would be too much to hope for - but which they do not dominate" (p. 32).

Newman covers various and sundry topics, and the book is organized roughly by category, although he moves quickly from one theme to another without much in the way of transition. Newman gets carried away sometimes, and it seems that he's doing a better job of entertaining himself than he is the reader. For example, his section on the interchangeability of certain names is clever, and the point is taken, but the reader will likely skip pages of his documentation. His delight with his own puns may also be less impressive to the reader. Other sections are inspired - his chapter on sports, in particular.

Politics have not changed much in the 30+ years since Strictly Speaking was published. Newman observes how the elections and political conventions of the sixties and seventies were treated as dramatic, serious, pivotal moments of history - just like now, the candidates treat each election like the most important one ever. And Newman lists the gaffes made by President Nixon, which makes one think that if he were writing this book while George W. Bush was president, Newman may have just given up.

Even responsible users of English can learn something here. Example: Newman laments the incorrect usage of the verb "convince" versus "persuade" (you convince someone of something or that something; you persuade someone to do something; you never convince someone to do something). Be observes the misuse of the word "massive", which means heavy and solid, not big (although now big has become an accepted definition of it).

Strictly Speaking is an entertaining and illuminating look at modern English. Its 1975 sequel, A Civil Tongue, is just as good, if not better.

RECOMMENDED

One person found this helpful

Helpful

JDD

STRICTLY SPEAKING by Edwin Newman

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2009

Strictly Speaking: Will America Be the Death of English? is a 1974 critique of the decline and abuse of the English language by journalist and former NBC News correspondent Edwin Newman. Newman is not an advocate for Standard English for its own sake, and he is not against the natural evolution of language. His biggest complaints are with politicians, members of the media (The New York Times in particular), and those in academia, who deliberately use language to sensationalize, obfuscate, and bewilder. He writes "for a world from which the stilted and pompous phrase, the slogan and the cliché, have not been banished - that would be too much to hope for - but which they do not dominate" (p. 32).

Newman covers various and sundry topics, and the book is organized roughly by category, although he moves quickly from one theme to another without much in the way of transition. Newman gets carried away sometimes, and it seems that he's doing a better job of entertaining himself than he is the reader. For example, his section on the interchangeability of certain names is clever, and the point is taken, but the reader will likely skip pages of his documentation. His delight with his own puns may also be less impressive to the reader. Other sections are inspired - his chapter on sports, in particular.

Politics have not changed much in the 30+ years since Strictly Speaking was published. Newman observes how the elections and political conventions of the sixties and seventies were treated as dramatic, serious, pivotal moments of history - just like now, the candidates treat each election like the most important one ever. And Newman lists the gaffes made by President Nixon, which makes one think that if he were writing this book while George W. Bush was president, Newman may have just given up.

Even responsible users of English can learn something here. Example: Newman laments the incorrect usage of the verb "convince" versus "persuade" (you convince someone of something or that something; you persuade someone to do something; you never convince someone to do something). Be observes the misuse of the word "massive", which means heavy and solid, not big (although now big has become an accepted definition of it).

Strictly Speaking is an entertaining and illuminating look at modern English. Its 1975 sequel, A Civil Tongue, is just as good, if not better.

RECOMMENDED

One person found this helpful

Helpful