The First Annual (of many, I suspect) San Diego Festival of Books, held two weeks ago at Liberty Station in Point Loma, was a prodigious success. Almost 10,000 bibliophiles (“book lovers”) made a joyful noise unto the printed page at the most jubilant event in praise of books ever held in San Diego. And […]
Many of us attend conferences, parties and other gatherings where we are asked to wear name tags that say, “Hello, I’m _____.” Here’s a punderful game that takes those badges to the limit. The object is to match a real first name with a real job to spark a punny connection, as in “My […]
Dear Richard Lederer: I was at a conference getting myself orientated about preventative maintenance — or should that be “oriented about preventive maintenance”? Could you interpretate the correct form of these words? –Spence Malden In many horror films, malignant monsters, from giant insects to blobs of glop, writhe about. Unfortunately, such grotesque mutations are […]
In just two days, and for the first time in 99 years, the shadow of a total solar eclipse will arc across the United States from coast to coast. So today is a bright occasion to gaze upward at the heavenly words that illuminate our language. Have you ever been curious about why the […]
Two weeks from today the U-T and KPBS, both of whom I’ve worked for and with, will launch their first annual Festival of Books (sdfestivalofbooks.com). The place will be the McMillin Event Center at Liberty Station in Point Loma, where, from 10 am to 6 pm, an assemblage of authors will appear and sign their […]
One afternoon a fox was wending his way through the forest when he spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from a lofty branch. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” said he. Taking a few steps back, the fox leapt up and just missed the hanging grapes. After springing and missing three times, the fox […]
Dear Richard Lederer: Your column on Janus-faced words, words that contain opposite meanings within themselves, got me thinking about the many inconsistencies of the English language. Take the word far being used as an adverb. How come we always have to add -ly to adjectives to make adverbs, but not in this case? “He has […]
The recent release of the powerful film A Quiet Passion, starring Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson inspires me to share with you my passion for my favorite 19th century American poet. When she died on May 15, 1886, no one alive, least of all she herself, dared imagine that she would become recognized as one […]
Dear Richard Lederer: I swear this is true. A radio reporter recently announced, “Police surrounded a house and ordered out a man accused of killing a convenience store clerk with a megaphone.” No word on whether cause of death was blunt force or burst eardrums. –Garry Foster, Carlsbad Garry Foster offers a spot-on example of […]
This coming Tuesday, the Miami Marlins will host the 2017 All-Star game. Many of us fondly recall bygone days in which baseball players were anointed with colorful nicknames. San Diego’s native son Ted Williams, for example, was variously dubbed the Splendid Splinter, the Kid, Teddy Ballgame and the Thumper. Similarly George Herman Ruth took on […]