Title: The Secret Language
Author: John S. Croucher
Publisher: ABC Books (HarperCollins)
ISBN: 978-0-7333-2553-3
RRP: AU$19.99 Trade Paperback.
There was once—and still is, I see—a Real Estate Agent in England that, unlike most sellers of houses, was wont to advertise in The Sunday Times and Observer the properties he had for sale accurately and without hyperbole. An example might be: “Run-down, badly-designed, draughty old maisonette that needs TLC and a ton of money spent on it. Don’t rush to inspect this property. You’ll most likely be disappointed”.
Oddly enough, the Agent (Roy Brooks) created a cult following (I read his ads every Sunday) and no doubt did very well in the housing market.
This Agent was the proverbial exception that proved the rule: that you can fool most of the people most of the time.
John Croucher is Professor of Statistics at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and is a well-known columnist and publisher of books on a diverse range of topics. His latest, The Secret Language, is hilarious romp through the clichés used by your average Real Estate Agent, Auto dealer, Businessperson, Retailer and by us in our personal relationships.
I wasn’t feeling 100% when I read John Croucher’s book, but it was so amusing in parts that I found myself chuckling and, at times, laughing out loud at the examples he gives of clichés and his interpretations of their real meanings.
Let me cite a few examples. Interpretations in brackets following the cliché. Motor Vehicles: Make Us An Offer (Nobody else has); Real Estate: Showpiece of the Street (Surrounded by even worse dumps); Medicine: Do you have any close relatives? (Which next-of-kin should we notify?; Human Resource Management: Blue Sky thinking (You have no idea what you are doing, and neither do we); Relationships: I’m not like other men (I’m exactly like other men); Law and Order: The evidence is irrefutable (It’s almost certainly inconclusive).
And that’s just a taste of this juicy collection. Go buy for the full flavour.
Reviewed by Alan Wheatley
This entry was posted by Alan Wheatley on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Book Reviews.
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