The Artemis 1 rocket, named after the Greek goddess of the moon, is scheduled to splash down tomorrow after its 25-day mission. NASA’s ultimate goal is to land the first humans on the moon in the 21st century, including the first woman and first person of color, and to explore more of the lunar […]
On a recent episode of the popular quiz show “Jeopardy!,” contestants were challenged to identify plural nouns that don’t end with the letter “s.” When asked to provide the plural of the singular noun moose, San Diego contestant Jack Weller, shot back, meese. The correct answer is moose — one moose, two moose — […]
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. As a devout Foodist, I’m pleased to serve you a bountiful banquet of culinary word origins. Both our food and our language are peppered with salt. The ancients knew […]
I’m button-burstingly proud to share with you a sampling from the billowy bag of Halloween treats y’all submitted for my poetry contest. Victorious versifiers will receive a signed copy of my book A Treasury of Halloween Humor. A haunted house of additional spooky stylings stands here: More Halloween Poems Halloween Memoir I always think […]
In addition to the poems that haunt my October 29 column, here are more monsterpieces contributed by San Diego Union-Tribune readers: Halloween Fright Night Halloween is here — it’s time to face your fear. All ghosts, ghouls, and goblins are hunting you so near. The witches and warlocks are looking for fun By cursing a […]
Recently, KPBS TV has been sharing Ken Burns’s three-part series “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” Among the victims of the Nazi atrocities was Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who grew up in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of Holland. In July of 1942, Anne’s family was forced into hiding in the upper story […]
Recently, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered a resignation speech in which he said, “I’m sad to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.” You may be shocked by “them’s the breaks,” which appears to be a grammar gaffe. But Johnson was consciously employing an ancient Greek figure of […]
My tolerance for incorrect pronunciation, grammar, punctuation, and spelling is extremely low these days. I used to have some immunity built up, but obviously there are new variants out there. Apparently, U-T readers agree. DEAR RICHARD: I’ve noticed a language trend in recent years that rubs me the wrong way grammatically. What really bugs me is […]
Books live. Books endure and prevail. Books are humanity in print. Books are the diary of the human race. As we grow older, we become all the ages we once were. And by exploring books, we become all that we have read. “Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay […]
Do you know someone who drinks like a fish and sweats like a pig? Actually, fish don’t drink very much, although they appear to, and pigs don’t have sweat glands. Nonetheless, we continue to say and write, drinks like a fish and sweats like a pig because they are embedded clichés in our language. […]