The wicked uses of language There are two main kinds – and examples of each will come thick and fast in these pages: Business English developed to make the casino economy sound real, and moral, For example: the Insurance ‘industry’ and its ‘products’ – insurance policies (where in fact, having an insurance policy, for all its virtues, tends to write off rather than encourage ‘products’, for example stolen or wrecked cars, burned or burgled houses and contents) Bureaucratic/Development English which more and more people in public institutions are using in public statements, stringing together phrases and instant clichés which avoid the issue, and avoid responsibility. New South Africa is the fertile field for this kind of bland, lumpy speech, and new South Africans are among the main users. The only redeeming feature of what is quite the most wicked publication on god’s good earth, the UK weekly Economist, is its stylebook. Look at the way it uses text and language, and you h
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head