Read “Lederer on Language” every other Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and on this site
The dazzling success of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’
Having opened on July 21, “Barbie” has become the highest grossing film of this year and the first billion-dollar film directed by a woman
Here’s my invitation to make beautiful music together
William Shakespeare began his comedy Twelfth Night with the line “If music be the food of love, play on!” About a century later, the
The English language is ‘the treasure of our tongue’
I’m button-burstingly proud to announce that you’re reading my 500th column in the Union Tribune. Inspired by this milestone (never a millstone), I celebrate our
Here’s a game to attract you to our SD Festival of Books
The Union-Tribune’s 7th Festival of Books will return to USD’s gorgeous campus on Saturday, August 19, 10 am-5 pm. The Festival is our city’s
Can you spot the patterns in each of these strange sentences?
Savor this unusual column, which contains this paragraph you now look upon. How quickly can you find out what is so uncommon about it?
Answering the telephone can turn out to be a slippery slope
DEAR RICHARD: When I answer the phone and the caller says they would like to speak to Selena, what is my proper response? —
A compact dictionary of stuff-and-nonsense words
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 new letter play that makes the alphabet dance
Brand names spring from the practice of branding animals — and human beings — to indicate ownership. A product that is “brand new” is
How to Solve the Mystifying Case of English Pronouns
First, they came for the adverbs, and I said nothing, even though I knew that this action did not bode good for our language.