Words that think for us: the past is always present
Seeking closure from the self-help lexicon
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Words that think for us: Take some dictation
Totalitarian-style language is creeping westwards -
Words that think for us: Art by any other name
There’s a deadening logic to the anti-language of art criticism -
Words that think for us: military language
Ours is a uniquely demilitarised society. War and service are remote from everyday civilian experience. Perhaps in consequence, our language abounds in the crassest military metaphors. Take for instance “the war on x,” where x stands for an abstract entity. The original such war was Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty,... -
Words that think for us: culture
Edward Skidelsky on a word that has gone from the sublime to the shapeless -
Words that think for us: “liberal”
Edward Skidelsky exposes abuses of language -
Words that think for us: transparency and accountability
Whenever a costly and useless bureaucratic reform is proposed, it is said to be “in the interests of transparency.” Sometimes the word “accountability” is added, or—for extra force—“democratic accountability.” The whole mantra is reeled off with the sub-cortical fluency of “Catholic and Apostolic Church.” It is an idiom of benediction,... -
Words that think for us
Things can only get better, can't they? -
Words that think for us
Please, stop caring and sharing -
Words that think for us
The hollowness of human capital