Architect Or Car Salesman?

Steven Poole, over at the excellent Unspeak blog, takes a look at Frank Luntz’s latest book "Words That Work". It’s fair to say that he’s not impressed, and gives ample evidence to back up his opinion. Oh, and I can substantiate Poole’s puzzlement over the meaning of the word napkin. In my lifetime of nearly sixty years, it was never to be confused with the separate word nappy. Indeed I have a dictionary published thirty years ago that clearly lists both words and their totally separate meanings. So much for Luntz’s bizarre theory that thirty years ago, we British believed napkins were nappies.

 

Luntz apparently thinks of himself as a "language architect". On this showing, he comes across more as a particularly oleaginous used car salesman. The only difference between Luntz and a used car salesman appears to be that the latter knows when he’s lying. Best avoided at all costs.