DEDICATED, SIGNED, AND (MAYBE WARMLY) INSCRIBED
A RENEWAL notice from London Review of Books told a good story: “George Bernard Shaw once saw a copy of one of his books in a secondhand bookshop. When he … Continue reading
LET’S DIFFERENTIATE “BULLY PULPIT” FROM A WRETCHED BULLY
I AM a lover of the English language, with a deep appreciation of Theodore Roosevelt. It was he who characterized the presidency as a “bully pulpit.” But, I note emphatically, … Continue reading
GIMME AN O! GIMME AN X! GIMME AN …
LET’S CELEBRATE the Oxford comma and its use at this website. Indeed, it made its debut here only yesterday with that second comma in “greed, stupidity, and political corruption.” There’s … Continue reading
PAPER CHASE!
DESPITE OUR “paperless society,” my computer printer still inexplicably keeps asking for the stuff. And I learned a lot more about it in the London Review of Books, June 15, … Continue reading
WHAT AN ODD LANGUAGE ENGLISH IS
AEON IS a not-for-profit digital magazine “committed to big ideas, serious enquiry and a humane worldview.” Founded in London in 2012, it publishes thoughtful essays, ideas and videos on all … Continue reading
TWO WINSTONS—AND A FAMILY PORTRAIT
A TWO-PERSON biography described in The New York Times Book Review, June 11, 2017, reminded me of a family portrait in one of our bookcases. The common theme is the … Continue reading
WHAT AN IDIOT! WELL, IF THE POLL FITS…
I LOVE learning word origins. The New York Times, June 12, 2017, carried “Trump and the True Meaning of ‘Idiot,’ ” an interesting etymological piece by Eric Anthamatten. What brought … Continue reading
CELEBRATING MORT SAHL
LONG BEFORE BILL Maher and John Oliver, even before Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, there was Mort Sahl. And there still is! A recent Tweet from Sahl: “Executive Privilege is … Continue reading
PETROGRAD NIGHTS—AND DAYS
IN THE long view of history, St. Petersburg, Russia, was called Petrograd for only the briefest of periods, 1914 to 1924. During that decade, though, it was central in a … Continue reading
HOW TO SAY “HEY YOU!” IN JAPANESE
ENGLISH HAS “you” and, though rarely used these days, “thee.” German has Sie and du. French has vous and tu. I’ve talked about these in “Doest Thou Know?” with a … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 