Word: gobbledygook
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...four, good buddy"). Some phrases enriched the nation's tongue; many impoverished it with jargon and meaningless terms. For words are like prescription lenses; they obscure what they do not make clear. This year the Washington Star had no trouble finding examples that blurred. In a section labeled "Gobbledygook," the newspaper offered a daily $10 prize for the worst phrase of the day. Sample from the U.S. Labor Department: "No lost time injuries that do not result in a medical expense should not be reported to the OWCP." Those who believe that Babel can be located somewhere south...
Harris's book is original and thought-provoking yet, throughout, one should remember that 16th century warning about relying on the clever for unbiased information. Certainly, Cannibals and Kings is entertaining and unburdened by the gobbledygook much recent writing on sociology is infamous for. Its chief fault is its glibness. Levi-Strauss, discussing the theories of geographer-turned-anthropologist Boas, wrote: "Social experiences and those constant interactions between the group and the individual cannot be inferred; they must be observed...
...shocker. Or to use Hirsch's gobbledygook, we confront the "overwhelming implications of this status factor on social and economic policy...
...four major translations in recent years, the two British projects, the Jerusalem and the New English Bibles, emphasize high literary style. The New American Bible attempted some simplification but the Good News Bible goes much farther. It shuns what one of its translators, the Rev. Heber Peacock, brands "churchy gobbledygook," as well as wording that might be confusing. In the 23rd Psalm, for example, "I shall not want" becomes "I have everything I need." Traditionalists may find that in the process some of the poetry of the standard versions has been clarified out of existence. Often the results are blunt...
...Post's two top stories one day last week were the Paris economic summit and a leftist rally in Lisbon, the Star led with stories on tax abuses and the new FBI crime statistics. One of the Star's most recent innovations is a column called "Gobbledygook," which uncovers choice items of bureaucratic doubletalk. The paper last month began sending gold-colored metal pins in the shape of an ear to prominent Washingtonians who are tattled about in its new gossip column "The Ear," which is scheduled to be syndicated nationally in February. Says Editor James Bellows...