Happy Earth Day to all of you this Friday, April 22. In 1970, the first Earth Day began a “grassroots” effort to recognize each year the fragility of the imperiled planet we are all riding. We were once a nation of farmers, but by the turn of the 20th century most of us had moved […]
Celebrating the centennial of our world-famous zoo, I offer a timely exhibition of political animals: Thomas Nast, perhaps the most famous political cartoonist in our history, was responsible for the popularity of two party animals. During the election of 1828, opponents of President Andrew Jackson labeled him a “jackass” for his populist beliefs. Entertained by […]
Politicians have been riddled by riddles: What’s a politician? A man who will double-cross that bridge when he comes to it. How can you tell when a politician is lying? His lips are moving. What do politicians and diapers have in common? They both need frequent changing— and for the same reason. What’s the difference […]
Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter was the earliest feast day decreed by the ancient Christian Church, and many consider Easter to be the most important holiday in the Christian calendar. Flora Hoffman’s letter, below, prompts me to share my thoughts about how we utter Jesus’s […]
Celebrating the centennial of the most famous zoo in the US of A — ours, incorporated in December 1916 — I continue to offer a beastly column each and every month of this year: One hundred years ago, the world renown San Diego Zoo literally and figuratively started with a roar. At the close of […]
I’m button-burstingly proud to announce that this installment of “Lederer on Language” is my 200th for the Union-Tribune. This is a good time, then, to consider the verbal abundance of our English language. The other day I went to the bookstore to buy a dictionary. The clerk showed me a really cheap one. I couldn’t […]
Some of our most alluring, astonishing and astounding words begin with the last letter of our alphabet: Zarf. Few people know that the holder for a paper cone coffee cup is called a zarf. Here are my favorite thingamabobs that have names you probably never knew existed: • aglet. the little plastic tip of a […]
The average American is bombarded daily with more than 1,600 commercial messages and by more than 50 million by the time he or she reaches 60 years of age. Many of these messages mislead by their use of weasel words, an expression that was born around 1900 and popularized by Theodore Roosevelt a century ago, […]
Dear Mr. Lederer: My complaint is about the oft misused word only. My late high school English teacher must ache in her grave about its misuse today versus what she taught us back in the 1940s. Would you please offer a definitive statement on the correct use of only? — Richard Jones The placement of […]
In nine days begins the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Started in 1877 in New York City, it is, except for the Kentucky Derby, the oldest continuous sporting event in the US of A. This is a good time, then, to talk about how the canine expressions trot, scamper and bark through our English language. […]