William Shakespeare shuffled off his mortal coil (died) more than four centuries ago, yet his characters continue to entrall and entertain us today. Commemorating the Bard’s birthday on April 23, I offer a humorous and instructive quiz to test your knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays. Match each Shakespearean character with the appropriate tune. Banquo’s theme […]
Tomorrow, April 4, kicks off National Library Week, this year’s theme being “Welcome to Your Library.” “Write dramatic, button-holing leads to your stories,” James Thurber’s editor commanded him during his early days as a newspaper reporter. In response, Thurber turned in a murder story that began, “Dead. That’s what the man was when they […]
DEAR RICHARD: On the local news, Carlo Cicchetto and Barbara-Lee Edwards both called the Padres hitting grand slams in four consecutive games “a historic feat”. On the CBS national news, Norah O’Donnell called last year’s fires and storms “an historic” series of events. It’s a for a hard h and an for silent h, […]
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: When and why did our language develop the habit of appending so many verbs with the word up? Here’s my little-more-than a partial list: Act, amp, bang, beat, blow, board, bottle, break, bring, brush, buck, buckle, build, burn, call, clam, clean, clog, close, cloud, clutter, come, conjure, cooped, crack, crank, creep, […]
DEAR RICHARD: Congratulations on your wonderful “Tense Time with Verbs” poem and its eminently well-deserved display at the Planet Word Museum. I’m glad visitors to the museum will get to enjoy it. The verb tenses in your poem make me reflect that the English language is just impenetrable for anyone not born to it! […]
Back in January, 1971 (has it really been that long?), a path-breaking sitcom lit up the tubes of our television sets. Created and written by Norman Lear, “All in the Family,” depicting a bigoted blue-collar working stiff and his household, attracted 50 to 100 million viewers by pushing the envelope long before that phrase […]
Happy New Year. It’s nice to have You Near. It’s also nice that we have finally reached a state of 2020 hindsight. In 11 days we’ll witness the inauguration of our 46th president, Joseph R. Biden. The story behind the word inaugurate is an intriguing one. It literally means “to take omens from the […]
The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide, is a festive season that starts on Christmas Day, December 25, and ends on January 5, known as the Twelfth Night, when Christmas decorations and trees are traditionally taken down. Today, December 26, is Boxing Day, which has nothing to do with two […]
In 1822, the Reverend Clement Clarke Moore, a literature professor at a theological seminary in New York City, wrote for his children what many believe is the best-known verses in the English language, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” The poem, usually titled “The Night Before Christmas” from its first line, powerfully influenced the iconography […]
Tomorrow is the International Day of the Bible, when people around the world are encouraged to read the best-selling book of all time. Today I offer a humorous and instructive quiz to test your biblical knowledge. Match each biblical personage with his or her appropriate theme song. Examples: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s song would […]