Talk is Cheap

Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language

By: John Haiman

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Paperback | 1 April 1998

At a Glance

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232 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.35

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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 cliches 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, the book will be fascinating reading for students of linguistics, literature, communication, anthropology, philosophy, and popular culture.

Industry Reviews

"After nearly two decades, John Haiman's Talk Is Cheap: Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language remains a valuable tool as an encyclopedia of sarcasm, enumerating the ways in which speakers use and mark its expression. This book also serves as a great resource for literary and cross- linguistic examples of the various facets of sarcasm." --merican Journal of Psychology

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Non-Fiction Language & Linguistics Linguistics Sociolinguistics Language Learning & Teaching Specific Skills of Learning Language Speaking & Pronounciation Skills

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Hardcover

Published: 1st March 1998

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Introduction: The Cheapness of Talk	p. 3
Sarcasm and the Postmodern Sensibility	p. 12
Sarcasm and Its Neighbors	p. 18
The Metamessage "I Don't Mean This"	p. 28
Alienation and the Divided Self	p. 61
Reflexives as Grammatical Signs of the Divided Self	p. 67
Un-Plain Speaking	p. 80
The Thing in Itself	p. 100
Zen Semantics	p. 128
Nonlinguistic Ritualization	p. 138
Ritualization in Language	p. 147
Metalinguistic Ritualization	p. 173
Reification and Innateness	p. 186
Postscript	p. 190
Questionnaire for Eliciting Sarcasm	p. 193
References	p. 195
Index	p. 213
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Talk is Cheap

Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

Other Editions and Formats

Hardcover

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