Exploring the Ups and Downs of Our English Words
February 23, 2019
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: An assignment by my senior high school English teacher gave me a life-long verbivore hobby — looking up etymologies of words. She
Read “Lederer on Language” every other Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and on this site
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: An assignment by my senior high school English teacher gave me a life-long verbivore hobby — looking up etymologies of words. She
The publishers of Oxford dictionaries have recently identified 20 words that are especially difficult to spell. Here they are alphabetically, but in their commonly misspelled
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: In a sequence of adjectives, English speakers and writers know in what order the adjectives should go, as in “a big, beautiful
Black History Month honors the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history. This celebration began as Negro History Week and was founded by Carter G.
Tomorrow, January 27, will be National Bible Sunday, a time meant to celebrate the power of the Bible in so many lives. The word bible
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: In the King James Bible, man is said to be made in the “Spit and image of God.” In the Catholic version
In the Golden Globe Awards this past Sunday evening, Willem Dafoe was nominated for best actor for his role in the film “At Eternity’s Gate.”
Happy New Year! It’s nice to have you near. The New Year is often represented as a baby, so this is a good time to
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: A question has come up concerning the origins of expressions that are considered racist. Have you run into any controversy about “red