false 567713 3 Geoffrey Nunberg can make one quite self conscious to write even a simple sentence. And yes, that is a compliment. A regular language commentator on NPR's <I>Fresh Air</I>, Nunberg examines the curious ways in which the modern language expresses far more about history, politics, and culture than most casual English users would ever realize. <I>Going Nucular</I>, besides having one of the more whimsical titles to come along in a while, offers up scores of chapters, each examining specific words, phrases, or verbal tendencies. And while words like "terrorism", "fascism", "appeasement", and "Caucasian" (and even the hapless "like" and "ain't") are tossed about regularly in contemporary usage, achieving an understanding of their origin and evolution can serve to better explain not just the word but the issue to which it is attached. Other language books have become popular among the "grammarati" for their hard line approach but Nunberg seeks to explore and understand rather than to enforce and punish. To that end, he defends "blog" as being a verb and noun that has earned its place in the language; it's very phonetic clunkiness being part of the appeal. And though he can diagram a sentence with the best of them, Nunberg is at his most delightful when shining a harsh lingual light on the ways in which the average person encounters words every day. A stinging and hilarious indictment of TV news' weird obsession with the present tense ("In North Dakota, high winds making life difficult") makes the reader hear the evening news in an entirely new way. <I>Going Nucular</I> is much more than a nudge and a wisecrack to self-appointed word cops, it's an insider's tour of the vernacular by the English teacher you only wish you had. <I>--John Moe</I> 554786 5 2004 Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Controversial Times total:85|5:23|4:33|3:27|2:2| 85 332 144 14 5 1 false false Fri Apr 20 11:19:58 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 20 11:26:21 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Feb 26 20:36:51 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 20:36:51 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Jul 14 01:16:22 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 01:21:01 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Jan 03 17:34:28 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 15 12:48:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Jan 25 05:14:07 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 05:14:07 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jan 12 06:49:21 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 07:46:31 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Dec 10 11:14:36 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 10 11:21:25 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Aug 01 21:35:11 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 21:35:11 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Sep 11 09:05:05 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 09:20:33 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun Jun 24 00:08:40 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 24 00:17:31 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Fri Jan 25 11:14:17 -0800 2008 Wed Oct 31 22:13:37 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 22:15:57 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jul 15 17:08:47 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 15 17:10:06 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Aug 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Feb 22 22:34:56 -0800 2009 Sat Aug 08 09:10:18 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 20 19:52:29 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 20 19:53:02 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 08 17:03:15 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 17:03:15 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 13 10:51:21 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 10:51:21 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Oct 03 23:12:18 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 23:12:18 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 04:39:33 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 04:39:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 29 10:37:27 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 10:37:27 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Sep 28 22:03:39 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 22:34:54 -0700 2009