Tag Archives: jargon

Political buzzwords at pace: a Pedantique-Ryter rant

management goals language projectsDo you speak politics? Can you string a whole series of political buzzwords together and mean, pretty much, nothing at all?

Politics-speak is the art of saying nothing, but with fancy words that sound impressive. At least, they sound impressive to some listeners. And it’s not only politicians who use them.

Often, it’s a case of the emperor’s new clothes—often, there’s nothing there at all. word "clarity" with spectacles

For those who aren’t politics junkies, it may be useful to know that when a newspaper runs a story criticising an organisation (or a government), the organisation is usually given a right of reply. That reply often appears in full at the end of the critical article.

Those replies are great places to find political buzzwords.
Or bromides, if you prefer.
Gives you a chance to count them. Or to laugh at their absurdities?

Buzzwords in practice: at pace

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Book descriptors : but what do they actually mean?

TBR pile of booksThis week, in connection with something unrelated to this blog, I came across a lot of book descriptors. By that, I mean the kind of words that are supposed to identify types and genres of fiction. Now I think I know what’s meant by romance or historical or saga. But some of the others? Um. Not so much.

So this blog is about a failing in my education. I need to get my head around these new and unfamiliar words to describe fiction. Who knows, I may even be writing some of them?
But if I don’t understand the book descriptors, how will I ever know?

Uplit, or Up-Lit, or Up Lit (Take your pick on spelling)

One of the first book descriptors I fell over was Uplit. I tried the dictionary. Nope. (It asked me if I’d meant to type uplift. Sigh.) Continue reading