It’s About Time That We Talk About Time
December 15, 2012
This is a timely time of year. Earlier this week, we experienced the one day of the year when three double digits in a row
Read “Lederer on Language” every other Saturday in the San Diego Union Tribune and on this site
This is a timely time of year. Earlier this week, we experienced the one day of the year when three double digits in a row
Language lovers have long bewailed the sad state of pronunciation and articulation in the United States. Both in sorrow and in anger, speakers afflicted with
This month we celebrate the birth of the most universally famous of all literary characters — Sherlock Holmes, the world’s first consulting detective. The intrepid
Dear Mr. Lederer: Your delightful column on language reminded me of when I was away at camp in sixth grade. The letters I sent home
As the (probably apocryphal) tale spins out, back in the early colonial days, a white hunter and a friendly Native American made a pact before
The northeast is still recovering from Frankenstorm Sandy, the second most costly hurricane (after Katrina) in American history. And, in the wake of violent tsunamis,
In warm weather, John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, customarily went skinny-dipping in the Potomac River. The first American woman to become a professional journalist,
Falling on Oct. 31, Halloween is the year’s spookiest holiday. On that day we carve faces in pumpkins, dress in horrible costumes and go out
In Johnny Hart’s B.C., an ant teacher asks her class, “Someone give me a sentence with a direct object.” One of the students responds, “You