How do cats greet each other at Christmas? “Have a furry meowy Christmas!” How do dogs greet each other at Christmas? “Yappy howl-a-days!” How do sheep greet each other at Christmas? “Season’s Bleetings and Fleece Navidad! Fleece on earth, good wool to men!” Punning is a rewording experience, especially around Christmas time. That’s the time […]
DEAR RICHARD LEDERER: My mother spent most of her life serving as an elementary school teacher. Before Mother recently passed away, she was in hospice, and the gentle doctor raised her to a sitting position so he could examine her back. Knowing she was in pain, he said, “Margie, I’m sure you want to […]
A good half of the Latin vocabulary from back when Nero was emperor has found its way into English, and at least 60 percent of our English words are derived from Latin. Battalions of English words descend from Latin words that have remained unchanged for more than 2,000 years. These pristine words include actor, […]
In the so-called good old days in the United States, as in Europe, which supplied the model, anyone who went to secondary school and college studied Latin as a matter of course. Even in the first years of the 20th century, fully half of high-school students were still taking Latin. Many of those young […]
Thanksgiving is a delicious time of year to nibble on a spicy, meaty, juicy honey of a topic that I know you’ll savor and relish. I’m not talking about small potatoes here; I’m talking about food for thought and the whole enchilada. Feast your eyes on the veritable banquet of mushrooming food expressions that […]
Of all the literary sources that feed into our English language, mythology is one of the richest. We who are alive today constantly speak and hear and write and read the names of the ancient gods and goddesses and heroes and heroines, even if we don’t always know it. Echo, for example, is an […]
I often sport a bow tie at formal events. I like bow ties because I think they look good, and even I can’t inflict food stains a bow tie. I order all my bow ties from a Vermont company named Beau Ties. The double word play in the name attracted me. The homophonic pun […]
Think about it: If a megaphone makes your voice bigger, what does a microphone do? If adults commit adultery, do infants commit infantry? If pro and con are opposites, is congress the opposite of progress? If your nose can run, can your feet smell? If olive oil is made from olives, corn oil from […]
Next Saturday, November 2, at the Convention Center, the Union-Tribune will host its 10th annual Successful Aging Expo, its biggest ever. Free and worth every penny, the Expo will feature an aggregation of exhibitors, all-day entertainment and expert speakers on topics of importance to those of us who are full of years. For details, […]
It is not only the mathematician who is fascinated by numbers. Whether we know it or not, we all speak numbers, from zero through 10, and well beyond. It’s as easy as one-two-three. From time to time, I hear people say, “That didn’t work. I guess we’ll have to go back to ground zero.” […]