Audio Books

ENGLISH . . . AS SHE IS SPOKE!
By Donald Monat and June Dixon
Read by the authors
The Publishing Mills
50 minutes (unabridged), $10.95
ISBN 1-57511-031-8
Aimed at the average person (rather than the scholar), this is a delightfully amusing, colorful, and informative look at the various forms of the English language. With perfect accents and lots of humor, Monat and Dixon give examples of Australian, Indian, British, and American phrases, as well as demonstrate how the English language has evolved over the centuries. As an example, the authors offer a poem about "Star Trek" as if it were written by Geoffrey Chaucer ("The Roddenberry Tales") and a corporate phone mail menu as if it were written by Shakespeare. Funniest of all is their look at modern-day doublespeak, examples of corporate euphemisms, such as a hospital that describes a death as a "negative patient outcome." They also take a stab at a politician's waffling by translating it into plain language and suggest how a modern-day public relations person would have announced to the passengers of the Titanic that the ship was sinking: "We are currently experiencing a negative adjustment of our maritime flotation capabilities." Monat and Dixon read in a lively and comic fashion that makes this program very entertaining indeed.