Strictly Speaking:

will America be the death of English?

Plot

Admiring colleagues have called Edwin Newman an antipollutant, sensibly sardonic, a rare bird, a genial intellect, a man nobody is going to fool anywhere, anytime, anyway. In his book, Strictly Speaking, these qualities are joined. Newman's wry eye focuses on the sorry state of the English language as a reflection of the sad state of American society. He skewers stereotypes, cliches, errors, and jargon used by weather forecasters, presidents, vice-presidents, sportscasters, diplomats, senators, pollsters, newsmen, advertisers, social scientists, college presidents, foreign correspondents, youth. Few escape. Drawing upon his wealth of experience in newspapers, radio, and television, Newman deflates the pompous, the grandiose, the stilted, the hollow. He rejoices in language that is lucid, graceful, direct, civilized. The reader rejoices in him.