Legislative Illiterates
I’m still tickled by Eric Holder’s admission that he hadn’t read Arizona’s anti-illegal- immigrant law before he furiously denounced it. Since the law is only …
Word Watch – August 2010
Two months ago, Leland Yeager commented in this place about the virtues of prescriptivism — the act of prescribing grammar and diction, not just of …
Not His Problem
Hearing the president and his friends rant against British Petroleum because of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico reminds me of the justifiably …
Mortality Tables
On May 23, I rejoiced to find that the Associated Press actually recognized that there might be some slight problem with the welfare state. It …
Greeks Bearing Gifts
“Well, mobs get pretty ugly sometimes, you know.” That’s what Mr. Potter, the villain in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” says to Jimmy Stewart when yet …
Word Watch – July 2010
The big political news of May 6 was the British people’s vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party. The …
Nebuchadnezzar’s Ankles
What shall we call this age we’re living in? It isn’t the Era of Good Feeling, that’s for sure — though I hope it isn’t …
Word Watch – June 2010
Lately I had a chance to converse with Leland Yeager, who has frequently contributed his insights to this column, about the subject of prescriptivism — …
Word Watch – May 2010
The world of words is like a banana republic — a scene of turmoil in which low and common entities constantly compete for power. You …
Bite The Bullet
To me, one of the most horrible features of the disaster in Haiti was the frequent complaint of doctors and nurses that they did not …