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Death Sentence The Decay of Public Language by Don Watson (Hardcover, 2005)

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‘The Book of the Year. witty, erudite and funny. Awfully funny.’. - Simon Hughes, The Australian Financial Review. Almost sixty years ago, George Orwell described the decay of language and why this threatened democratic society.

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Part diatribe, part cool reflection on the state of Australia s public language, Don Watson s Death Sentence is scathing, funny and brilliant. ... in public life the language has never been held in less regard. It withers in the dungeons of the technocratic mind. It is butchered by the media. In politics it lacks all qualifications for the main game. Almost sixty years ago, George Orwell described the decay of language and why this threatened democratic society. But compared to what we now endure, the public language of Orwell's day brimmed with life and truth. Today's corporations, government departments, news media, and, perhaps most dangerously, politicians speak to each other and to us in cliched, impenetrable, lifeless sludge. Don Watson can bear it no longer. In Death Sentence, part diatribe, part cool reflection on the state of Australia's public language, he takes a blowtorch to the words and their users who kill joy, imagination and clarity. Scathing, funny and brilliant, Death Sentence is a small book of profound weight and timeliness.

Product Identifiers

PublisherRandom House USA Inc

ISBN-139781740512060

eBay Product ID (ePID)95335875

Product Key Features

Number of Pages208 Pages

Publication NameDeath Sentence the Decay of Public Language

LanguageEnglish

SubjectBusiness

Publication Year2005

TypeTextbook

AuthorDon Watson

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height218 mm

Item Weight342 g

Item Width142 mm

Additional Product Features

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited States

Title_AuthorDon Watson

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item 1 Death Sentence The Decay of Public Language by Don Watson (Hardcover, 2003)

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item 2 Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language ~ Don Watson Witty, Erudite & FUNNY

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item 3 Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language by Don Watson - Hardcover

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item 4 Death Sentence: Decay of Public Language by Don Watson (Hardcover Book) Politics

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by cjdlj55
29 Mar, 2018
Essential reading for every creative writer
This book was recommended to me by my editor - part of her Structural Edit on my Work in Progress, a work of historical fiction. She advised me that some of my language was out of place in a 'world back then' but her point went further. Once you read 'Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language' you become aware how far we've mangled plain English. Words like key, core, strategic, outcome, issue, impact, empower, product, scenario, implement - the list goes on - are now in every document (read Annual General Report etc.) and in most cases used to make bland, sweeping statements. Let's unite as creative writers to keep death sentences out of our fiction writing!
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned