Just Finished Reading: Unspeak – Words are Weapons by Steven Poole

I’ve been dipping into this book for a while and thought that it was about time I actually finished it. Unspeak is a timely reminder that the words people use, abuse and often choose very carefully indeed are usually nothing like what they appear to be on first hearing. Phrases such as ‘sound science’, ethnic cleansing’ and (my particular favourite) ‘collateral damage’ pepper not only the sound-bites of politicians but drip off the tongues of journalists and, all too easily, become part of everyday speech without giving them the consideration they deserve. Steven Poole gives them that consideration and then some. He analyses with great aplomb and not a little humour the words and phrases we hear everyday on the news and read in our newspapers. After reading this timely volume you’ll never quite listen to ‘buzzwords’ in the same way. But be warned though – this book will (probably) increase your scepticism and cynicism whenever you hear that ‘enemy combatants’ are planning ‘outrages’ against ‘coalition forces’ or when ‘repetitive administration’ is used on ‘terrorist suspects’ after they have been successfully ‘rendered’.

This book is definitely one for those who would like to read between the lines and behind the banner headlines. It will make you pause, consider and think before you accept the words being used – often with deliberate intelligence – to make you react in certain ways and to believe certain things without seeming to do so. When words are accepted at face value it is difficult if not impossible to wonder what they really mean and to consider why one word or phrase was used instead of another. Especially when speech writers produce the sound-bites we know and hate we must realise that such things are crafted artificial ways of getting words inside our heads hopefully bypassing our critical faculties. This book will help everyone to build up those faculties and reduce the chance of us being manipulated by those who want our votes or our money. Highly recommended. Read it today.