Answering the telephone can turn out to be a slippery slope
July 8, 2023
DEAR RICHARD: When I answer the phone and the caller says they would like to speak to Selena, what is my proper response? —
Read “Lederer on Language” every other Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and on this site
DEAR RICHARD: When I answer the phone and the caller says they would like to speak to Selena, what is my proper response? —
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: I was gobsmacked (a fun word too) to hear for the first time the word bafflegab, which means exactly what it
Brand names spring from the practice of branding animals — and human beings — to indicate ownership. A product that is “brand new” is
First, they came for the adverbs, and I said nothing, even though I knew that this action did not bode good for our language.
I’m button-burstingly proud to announce that today marks the 11th anniversary of my sharing “Lederer on Language” with you word-loving, verbivorous readers. So I’m
Peter Fitzgerald, of Imperial Beach, shares his take on punning with a Shakespearean twist: “All the world’s a pun and all the men and
Brush up your Shakespeare. Start quoting him now. Brush up your Shakespeare, And the women you will wow. – Cole Porter, “Kiss Me, Kate”
A good pun is like a good steak — a rare medium well done. In such a prey on words, rare, medium, and well
In America, we celebrate just about everything, so it may come as no surprise to you that today, March 4 (March Forth!), pun-up girls and
Welcome to the website woven for wordaholics, logolepts, and verbivores. Carnivores eat meat; herbivores eat plants and vegetables; verbivores devour words. If you are heels over head (as well as head over heels) in love with words, tarry here a while to graze or, perhaps, feast on the English language. Ours is the only language in which you drive in a parkway and park in a driveway and your nose can run and your feet can smell.