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Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Pop Language in Your Life, the Media, and Like . . . Whatever

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Pop Language in Your Life, the Media, and Like . . . Whatever

by Savan, Leslie
No customer reviews yet ISBN 9780375702426 Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

In this marvelously original book, three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Leslie Savan offers fascinating insights into why we're all talking the talk--Duh; Bring it on!; Bling; Whatever!--and what this reveals about America today. Savan traces the paths that phrases like these travel from obscure slang to pop stardom, selling everything from cars (ads for VWs, Mitsubishis, and Mercurys all pitch them as "no-brainer"s) to wars (finding WMD in Iraq was to be a "slam dunk"). Real people create these catchy phrases, but once media, politics, and businesses broadcast them, they burst out of our mouths as celebrity words, newly glamorous and powerful. Witty, fun, and full of thought-provoking stories about the origins of popular expressions, Slam Dunks and No-Brainers is for everyone who loves the mysteries of language.

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Product details

BrandKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Pub dateOct 10, 2006
ISBN-100375702423
ISBN-139780375702426
Pages352
LanguageEnglish
Dimensions7.97 × 5.23 × 0.73 in
Weight1 lb
Last updated 2026-06-02 04:01
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