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Two nominations submitted in a timely fashion for this year's George Orwell Award were erroneously omitted from the ballot sent to members of the Committee on Public Doublespeak. Since either of these nominations might have won the award, and since their omission was in no way the fault of their nominators, it seems appropriate to give them pride of place in this issue of QRD.
William Lutz. Doublespeak Defined. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
In this book, William Lutz brings together hundreds of examples of the doublespeak that pervades public discourse. From Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton, from the Vietnam War to the war in the Persian Gulf, Lutz lists the doublespeak used by those in power. The entry for firing employees, for example, lists 96 words and phrases used by corporations to avoid saying that they're getting rid of workers. The book is divided into 17 sections, from Government and Politics to War and the Military to Business and Finance. Within these sections the doublespeak is defined, often with a citation of the context in which the doublespeak term originally appeared. There are also 30 short essays, from a single paragraph to one page in length, discussing particular kinds of doublespeak in detail. The book also includes an index listing all the doublespeak terms as well as all the nondouble speak words that are defined. Readers will find that the book works as both a guide to understanding doublespeak and as a reference. It is also just plain fun to read. Stotsky, Sandra. Losing Our Language: How Multicultural Classroom Instruction Is Undermining Our Children's Ability to Read, Write, and Reason. New York: The Free Press, 1999.
America's population, the demographers tell us, is becoming less and less white. Consequently, professional educators tell us, curricula must become more and more "multicultural." Indeed, "multiculturalism" has now become the guiding principle for K-12 and even higher education. To its advocates 11 multiculturalism's" pedagogical value is self-evident, its goodwill indisputable. Since "multiculturalism"-a benign argot that can mean whatever you want-seemingly implies an acceptance of cultural variety and open-mindedness, innocent parents will be tempted to think it may be beneficial for their children. Those parents should read Dr. Stotsky's new book, which clearly and convincingly demonstrates that professional advocates have...