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
THE BEST OF LINES
“I WISH I HAD said that,” Oscar Wilde remarked. “You will, Oscar, you will,” responded James McNeill Whistler. I’ve often shared Oscar Wilde’s wish, though the fear of stumbling into … Continue reading
“THAT GOES THERE?” SAID THE GUARD EMPHATICALLY
FRANK BRUNI is a writer I enjoy. And, in this opening sentence, I’ve purposely left out any “who,” “that” or whatever after the word “writer.” I’m confident this omission confuses … Continue reading
ON HEARING ONESELF, AND OTHERS
AS A KID in Cleveland, I worked occasionally at WBOE, a pioneer public radio station operated by that city’s Board of Education. I suspect I was identified early on as … Continue reading
ARISTOPHANES—ANCIENT GREECE’S S.N.L.
SATIRE WAS AS important to ancient Greeks as it is to those of us living through today’s muddle. Think of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes as that era’s combination of … Continue reading
A PHONY BARD
THIS IS A TALE of deception. It involves a collector of English artifacts; his talented, if unscrupulous, son; the greatest of playwrights, William Shakespeare; and a passel of people capable … Continue reading
RIDING ON THE RED? THE GREEN? JUST THE RODS?
HERE’S HOW TO know when you’re a hep-ghee (sophisticated individual) and counter the lamentable trend of 140-character missives, all through a study of English language usage from the 1950 Dictionary … Continue reading
