By: Ken Smith Publisher: Blast Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Blast Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: November 09, 2001
In Junk English, Ken Smith takes on the misuse, abuse, and downright decay of the English language. His weapons? A sharp wit and an almost frightening grasp of the depths of the decline. Written so that the ordinary writer and speaker of English can readily see how the manipulation of words keeps the culture in a haze of misunderstandings and vagueness, Junk English covers the whole spectrum of the problem. In short sections such as “Butt-Covering,” “Feeble Beginnings,” “God Is on Our Team,” “Sports Talk,” and “Touchy-Feely Therapy Talk,” Smith shows how everyone from Madison Avenue to middle America has succumbed to euphemisms, mindless jargon, and weasel words. The book’s inclusion of basic advice on how to avoid lazy language shows there’s at least some hope for the future.
Amazon.com Review: "Junk English is the linguistic equivalent of junk food," says Ken Smith. "Ingest it long enough and your brain goes soft." Given the ubiquity of "junk English"--which includes pretentious, meaningless, euphemistic, and bloated language--we all likely suffer already from mushy minds. In Junk English, Smith uses real examples to illustrate 120 types of language abuse, including cheapened words (visionary, revolutionary), distraction modifiers (low, just, only), "fat-ass phrases," "free-for-all verbs," "jargon gridlock," "mirage words," "palsy-walsy pitches," "secret snob words," and "tiny type messages." If linguistic abuses were ticketable offenses, Officer Smith would fill his quota before he reached the second paragraph. While the greatest perpetrators of junk English may be business and advertising folk, we're all guilty. So take this as a reminder to say what you mean, and mean what you say, and leave the battlefield language and spiked clichés behind. --Jane Steinberg
Worthwhile, but not as much fun as I expected. Smith makes many valid points in this book, detailing many ways in which the language is commonly abused. He doesn't have nearly the sense of humor about the subject as I'd expected, however, and there are a few cases in which I think he disdains a perfectly legitimate usage.
Be a better person, read this! An adventitious and clear minded romp through the landscape of modern English.
`Junk English' is the perfect way to describe the cluttering of the English language, like with junk food it is possible to pile on more and more of these say-nothing words while adding no more meaning to a sentence than a Twinkie would add nourishment to a meal.
In addition to a sharp eye one of the aspects of this book which makes it so great is Smith's excellent use of examples to illustrate every point, truly makes all the concepts of the book easy to grasp.
While I applaud Ken Smith for this book I will point out that he is occasionally too harsh in his criticism - wouldn't recommend Junk English as a zero tolerance guide but the more aware of such linguist fluff we are the more we can cut back on it and in turn the more meaning out remaining words gain.
Although Smith doesn't offer the same sorts of insight that linguist Geoffrey Nunberg does in his book this was an informative and enjoyable read - will be reading the sequel before too long I am sure!
Disappointing on all levels As a professional writer, I enjoy discussions about language and the (often comical) pitfalls that exist for those who unintentionally misuse language. That, combined with the back cover quote that termed the book "lively" and "funny," led me to believe that I would be enlightened and entertained by reading "Junk English." Unfortunately, I found the book to be not particularly illuminating and virtually devoid of any entertainment value. The author repeatedly ridicules the type of writing that most of us would consider minor deviations from technically perfect sentences, and he seems to consider all creative embellishment or literary license as a sort of taboo that should be excised from even conversational English. In short, this is the kind of intellectual nitpicking that I believe would appeal only to the pedagogue who delights in correcting a child's misuse of the word "can" where he should have used the word "may." It is not a book that offers any guidelines to enrich our use of the English language. Instead, if we were to follow the advice of "Junk English" and stick to the type of bland, stripped-down sentences the author lauds for the technical accuracy of their syntax and word choice, the language of Shakespeare would be dull indeed.
Unfortunately dull I was a little disappointed by this book since I'm a great fan of Ken Smith. All of his previous books were written on other interesting topics and resulted in some really fun and informative reads (Mental Hygiene, Raw Deal, Roadside America). Junk English succeeds, somewhat, at the informing part. There's a lot of insight into how English is being destroyed . I imagine Ken watching television and obsessively scribbling down his examples. But the book suffers from bad organization. It goes in a mindless alphabetical order, by both offending words and topics. It would help a lot if it went topic by topic. And the entertaining part is almost nonexistant. Sentences pop up here and there giving a glimpse of the fun writer Smith can be, but mostly it does read like a dictionary.
A humbling imperative Ken Smith has written an equally dazzling and puzzling book that will leave you wondering what words you might have overused... In this little book, he compiles a list of the many words that have been abused by arrogance, misunderstanding, and sheer nonsense. Nothing rings true about these words but their dictionary definitions. They may puzzle, and excite, but their silence rings true as empty bells.
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