Fowler, Fouled

The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, edited by R. W. Burchfield (Oxford, 864 pp., $25)

AS it happened, I read much of this book on an airplane (BrE “aeroplane”) operated by Delta, whose uniformed representative welcomed me, among the other passengers, with the portentous announcement that she was Lisa and she would be my “customer service coordinator.” As something of a collector of “genteelisms” and “euphemisms” (qqv), I at once sought under the appropriate entries to see if Mr. Burchfield, who is a lexicographer by trade, had caught this latest specimen, with the dew still moist upon its wings. He had not, quite, although he notes as an example under “euphemism” that the chief steward on an aircraft is sometimes called a “flight service director,” which is close enough. Indeed, it is impressive in view of the rapid change that such a book must take account of. Next week Delta will doubtless be calling its chief stewards “customer service coordination directors.”

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James Bowman

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The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage, edited by R. W. Burchfield (Oxford, 864 pp., $25)

AS it happened, I read much of this book on an airplane (BrE “aeroplane”) operated by Delta, whose uniformed representative welcomed me, among the other passengers, with the portentous announcement that she was Lisa and she would be my “customer service coordinator.” As something of a collector of “genteelisms” and “euphemisms” (qqv), I at once sought under the appropriate entries to see if Mr. Burchfield, who is a lexicographer by trade, had caught this latest specimen, with the dew still moist upon its wings. He had not, quite, although he notes as an example under “euphemism” that the chief steward on an aircraft is sometimes called a “flight service director,” which is close enough. Indeed, it is impressive in view of the rapid change that such a book must take account of. Next week Delta will doubtless be calling its chief stewards “customer service coordination directors.”