| Author: |
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Deborah Cameron
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| Title: |
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Verbal Hygiene (Politics of Language) |
| Moochable copies: |
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No copies available |
| Amazon suggests: |
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| Topics: |
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| Published in: |
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English |
| Binding: |
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Paperback |
| Pages: |
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280 |
| Date: |
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1995-07-02 |
| ISBN: |
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041510355X |
| Publisher: |
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Routledge |
| Weight: |
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1.05 pounds |
| Size: |
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6.06 x 0.59 x 9.17 inches |
| Edition: |
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1 |
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| Description: |
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Product Description
In this book Deborah Cameron takes a serious look at popular attitudes towards language and examines the practices by which people attempt to regulate its use. Instead of dismissing the practice of 'verbal hygiene', as a misguided and pernicious exercise, however, she argues that popular discourse about language values; good and bad, right and wrong, serves an important function for those engaged in it.
A series of case-studies deal with specific examples of verbal hygiene: the regulation of 'style' by editors, the teaching of English grammar in schools, the movements for and against so-called 'politically-correct' language and the recent explosion of advice to women on how they can speak more effectively. In each case she argues that verbal hygiene provides a way of making sense of linguistic phenomena, and that it represents a symbolic attempt to impose order on the social world.
Addressed to linguistics, professional language-users of all kinds, and to anyone interested in language and culture, Verbal Hygiene, calls for legitimate concerns about language and value to be discussed, by experts and lay-speakers alike, in a rational and critical spirit.
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| URL: |
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http://bookmooch.com/041510355X |
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