In 2004, he coined the word blurbspeak, defined as “a very special subdialect of English that’s partly hyperbole, but it’s also phrases that sound really good and are very compelling in an advertorial sense, but if you think about them, they’re literally meaningless.” On the other hand, he wrote about two dozen of them over the years, and Lucas Thompson argues that they’re genuinely worthwhile writing.
Author: Matthew Westphal
What Do We Mean When We Ask What Something Is Like?
Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk with lexicographer Anne Seaton about the strange history of this strange expression. (podcast)
Born To Riot: Why Sports Fans Love To Brawl, Smash And Set Things On Fire (And Not Just In Philadelphia)
Steve Almond talks to author Justine Gubar (Fanaticus: Mischief and Madness in the Modern Sports Fan), whose thesis is that “just about anyone can turn into a rioter.” (Even Vancouverites.)
A Blockbuster Show Of Art From The Biggest Corporate Fraud In Brazil’s History
“Operation Car Wash” has rocked Brazil with its revelations of executives and politicians helping themselves to money from Petrobras, the country’s nationalized oil company. An exhibit of works confiscated from the alleged culprits has become a huge hit.
‘One Of The Strange Originals Of American Ballet,’ Alastair Macaulay Called This Man
Who but Matthew Neenan, co-founder of Philadelphia’s BalletX and resident choreographer of the Pennsylvania Ballet, could pull off a classical dance work about a key event in the history of airmail?
Who’s Ruling Hip-Hop Dance These Days? Koreans, Kiwis, And Filipinos
At the hip-hop dancing world championships, U.S. crews weren’t completely shut out, but their moves have been, as the tournament’s spokesman put it, “exported and perfected elsewhere.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.10.15
Ai Weiwei Watch: International Travel Plans, Sympathy for His Tormentors
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-08-10
The Reign of the Director
AJBlog: OperaSleuth Published 2015-08-10
Just because: Miles Davis improvises a film score
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-08-10
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Did The Gardner Museum Theft Have A Dry Run The Day Before? New Video Suggests So
“Never-before-seen video released Thursday shows a security guard admitting an unidentified man into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum the night before the infamous 1990 art heist, adding a stunning new clue to Boston’s most enduring mystery.”
India Lifts Ban On Internet Pornography After Nationwide Debate
“In the first large-scale crackdown on the internet in India, the world’s largest democracy, websites were blocked over the weekend as telecommunications companies began to implement government instructions. The Department of Communications said the aim was to prevent pornography becoming a social nuisance, but the move immediately prompted a nationwide debate about censorship and freedom.”
Atlanta Ballet’s Season Had Best Box Office In 20 Years
“$3.1 million in box office sales, the highest ticket revenue for the company in at least two decades (as far back as the company’s records go). … Total season attendance approached 72,000.”