Description: Talk Is Cheap : Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language, Paperback by Haiman, John, ISBN 0195115252, ISBN-13 9780195115253, Brand New, Free shipping in the US Putting aside questions of truth and falsehood, the old "talk is cheap" maxim carries as much weight as ever. Indeed, perhaps more. For one need not be an expert in irony or sarcasm to realize that people don't necessarily mean what they say. Phrases such as "Yeah, right" and "I couldn't care less" are so much a part of the way we speak--and the way we live--that we are more likely to notice when they are absent (for example, Forrest Gump). From our everyday dialogues and conversations ("Thanks a lot!") to the screenplays of our popular films (Pulp Fiction and Fargo), what is said is frequently very different from what is meant. Talk is Cheap begins with this telling observation and proceeds to argue that such "unplain speaking" is fundamentally embedded in the way we now talk. Author John Haiman traces this sea-change in our use of language to the emergence of a postmodern "divided self" who is hyper-conscious that what he or she is saying has been said before; "cheap talk" thus allows us to distance ourselves from a social role with which we are uncomfortable. Haiman goes on to examine the full range of these pervasive distancing mechanisms, from clichés and quotation marks to camp and parody. Also, and importantly, this text highlights several new ways in which the English language is evolving (and has evolved) in response to our postmodern world view. In other words, this study shows us how what we are saying is gradually separating itself from how we say it. As provocative as it is timely, th will be fascinating reading for students of linguistics, literature, communication, anthropology, philosophy, and popular culture.
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Book Title: Talk Is Cheap : Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Languag
Number of Pages: 232 Pages
Publication Name: Talk Is Cheap : Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language
Language: English
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Subject: Linguistics / General
Item Height: 0.8 in
Publication Year: 1998
Type: Textbook
Item Weight: 13.1 Oz
Subject Area: Language Arts & Disciplines
Item Length: 6 in
Author: John Haiman
Item Width: 9.1 in
Format: Trade Paperback