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Leslie Savan on pop language

I just got back from vacation and so now I must decide whether to unpack, clean up, or blog. I know you people would probably say "blog" but that's only because you haven't seen my apartment.

Anyway, over the next few days I'll share some of my more memorable vacation readings with you. Speaking of...  My friend (and hero) Leslie Savan had an great essay in the New York Times Magazine last week. "Grabbing a catch phrase for a slam-dunk" hits upon the themes in Leslie's upcoming book about pop language, Slam Dunks and No-Brainers (Knopf, October 2005), which I'll have plenty to say about later.

We have all heard, and at times we all speak in, pop phrases: Hel-lo? Duh. Step up to the plate. Think outside the box. LOL. You da man! Pop phrases are not just popular phrases or clichés - they shine with an extra glamour. They are words that pop out of their surrounding, and that, if inflected properly, step into the spotlight as verbal celebrities, the stars of our sentences...