Inflammatory Acclamatories*

Jim Emerson, whose blog has been given a space separate from Roger Ebert’s, twice recently has addressed our cultural tendency to be lazy with language, particularly in marketing movies. First, he parses the MPAA’s explanatory descriptions of its ratings:

“Bad Santa (R): ‘pervasive language, strong sexual content, and some violence.’ (Language is pervasive in Bad Santa.)”

Then, he breaks down some “critical acclaim” for movies and finds it neither critical nor ... err ... acclamatory*:

“Read it slowly, one word at a time. It says almost precisely nothing at all — and could be said (with conviction!) even by someone who has not seen the movie.”

* I made up both versions of that word.