Read “Lederer on Language” every other Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and on this site
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
This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film classic “Young Frankenstein.” With Halloween shambling toward us, here’s a brief bio of that famous
In a letter to a 12-year-old boy, Mark Twain wrote, “I notice you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the
After English, the most commonly spoken language in the continental United States is overwhelmingly Spanish. The only exceptions are French in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont
Responding to the challenge of my recent limericks contest, you, my verbivorous readers, winged me 193 sprightly examples of that light verse form. In gratitude,
Simone and I were transfixed throughout last week by the Public Television series “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” In seven two-hour episodes, archival documentary filmmaker
Believe it or not, each year Sept. 24 is National Punctuation Day. Now you might think that celebrating those little and lowly dots, lines and