On New Year’s Eve, We Hear Poetry In The Burns Dialect
December 27, 2014
More than two centuries ago, the most famous poet in Scotland was untimely ripped from this mortal coil. When Robert Burns died in 1796, he
Read “Lederer on Language” every other Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and on this site
More than two centuries ago, the most famous poet in Scotland was untimely ripped from this mortal coil. When Robert Burns died in 1796, he
A set-up pun is a conspiracy of narrative and word play. In set-up punnery, the punster contrives an imaginary situation that leads up to a
A newspaper headline blared ESCAPEE CAPTURED AFTER 10 DAYS ON THE LAMB. The message to be conveyed was not meant to be that the convict
Now that you have freed prepositions to bravely be sentence endings, you might clarify Miss Thistlebottom’s split infinitive rule. — Pam Rider, East Village, San
Dear Mr. Lederer: Recently, I heard President Obama say, “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” and I got to wondering how
Thanksgiving is a delicious time of year to nibble on a spicy, meaty, juicy, honey of a topic that I know you’ll savor and relish.
The following drastic measures were inadvertently taken in notes written by parents to excuse their children’s absences from school: “My son is under the doctor’s
I recently helped raise funds for two music-loving groups in our town — the Grossmont Music Scholarship Council and the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus,
Dear Mr. Lederer: My grandchildren tell me there are no words that rhyme with the word orange. I said I doubted it but you would