Amazon.com recently announced its fourth annual list of the Most Well-Read Cities in America. The ranking is based on sales of all books, magazines and newspapers in both print and Kindle formats from April 2013 to April 2014. On a per-capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents, Alexandria, Va., tops the list for […]
Do you fathom the lapping of the sea at our English language? When we try to fathom an idea, we are making poetic use of an old word that originally meant “the span between two outstretched arms.” Then the word came to mean “a unit of six feet used for measuring the depth of water.” […]
Dear Mr. Lederer: Since San Diego is a Navy town, we should all know that “three sheets to the wind” means “very drunk.“ But why? — Gloria Reams, Otay Mesa For sailors, sheets refer to the lines attached to the lower corner of a sail. When all three sheets of an old sailing vessel were […]
This past Monday, Simone and I lost our dear friend, Bart. He was our gentle, companionable black lab mix, and his mighty heart beat for more than 16 years. Despite rickety back legs and a battalion of tumors, he greeted each day with bright eyes, waggy tail and unconditional trust. Bart loved us more than […]
Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803–1870), a San Antonio rancher, acquired vast tracts of land and dabbled in cattle raising. When he neglected to brand the calves born into his herd, his neighbors began calling the unmarked offspring by his name. Today the word maverick has come to designate any nonconformist. On July Fourth we’ll celebrate our […]
Because language is naturally playful, we human beings love to make jokes about words. Here, in order of length, are a dozen of my favorite verbal tour de farces: • Bad spellers of the world, untie! • Every time you make a typo, the errorists win. • The only place where success comes before work […]
With the running of the Belmont Stakes this afternoon, many of us will be keenly rooting for California Chrome, whose speed, stamina, spunk and humble origins have won our hearts. Inspired by California Chrome, I’m full of horse power and feeling my oats — champing (not chomping) at the bit and eager to give free […]
I’m pleased to report that I’ll be emceeing one of the five open-air stages at the San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival, to be held next Saturday, May 3, 1-3:30 p.m. at the Casa del Prado in Balboa Park. Sponsored by the San Diego Shakespeare Society (sandiegoshakespearesociety.org), hundreds of students will perform 10-minute scenes, sonnets, music […]
Diogenes (412?-323 BCE) of Sinope was an ancient Greek philosopher who rejected the hollow values he saw in Athenian society. One sign of that integrity was his practice of carrying a lantern around Athens in the daytime as he looked for an honest man. He never found one. I come to you bearing the lantern […]
The Cambridge, England, City Council recently ruled that apostrophes should be removed from all street signs to avoid confusion, but the city’s Good Grammar Company warned “if they take our apostrophes, commas will be next.” Good Grammar Company Director Kathy Salaman said she fully supported grammar police who use black marker pens to fill […]