title: The Evasion-English Dictionary
author:  Maggie Balistreri 
description: Cultural criticism takes the form of a dictionary in this slender, amusing volume. Balistreri has become aware-and wants to make us all aware-of the little linguistic games we play in order to "duck the truth," the words we use not to reveal our meaning but to mask it. Saying "I feel unproductive," she notes, is more acceptable to ourselves than plainly stating, "I am unproductive." Or how about "I hate to say it but..." (as in "I hate to say she's fat...")? Balistreri unearths the underlying meaning: "I can't believe I'm saying this; it's so uncharacteristic of me." Balistreri, who runs the language and poetry webzine CafeMo.com, is a subtle interpreter of linguistic evasions and rhetorical tics. Read this, and you may think twice the next time you're tempted to say "like" (translation: "think, brain, think!"). <BR>Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: “YOU’D	MAKE	A	FOOL	OF	ME,	WOULD	YOU?”
  Lord	St.	Simon	said	furiously.	“Diablillo!”	He	grabbed	her	hands	as
  they	 lunged	 for	 his	 face,	 wrenching	 her	 arms	 above	 her	 head,
  grabbing	her	chin	with	his	other	hand,	holding	her	head	steady	on	the
  moss.	“You’d	serve	me	such	a	trick,	would	you?	Let	me	tell	you,	mi
  muchacha,	that	it’ll	take	more	than	a	devious	bandit	to	get	the	better
  of	me.”
  Tamsyn	twisted	her	body	sideways,	but	he	swung	himself	over	her,
  straddling	her.
  “Espadachín!”	 she	 threw	 at	 him	 again.	 “I	 may	 be	 a	 bandit,	 but
  you’re	a	brute	and	a	bully,	Colonel.	Let	me	up.”
  “No.”
  The	simple	negative	stunned	her.	She	stared	up	into	his	face	that
  was	now	as	calm	and	equable	as	if	they	were	sitting	in	some	drawing
  room.	He	looked	positively	comfortable.
  Her	astonished	silence	lasted	barely	a	second;	then	she	launched	a
  verbal	 assault	 of	 such	 richness	 and	 variety	 that	 the	 colonel’s	 jaw
  dropped.	 She	 moved	 seamlessly	 within	 three	 languages,	 and	 the
  insults	an