Category: Word Watch

This column ordinarily watches a single type of verbal problem, but sometimes there are just too many problems. One is spotted — then another pops …

Cliches: you can’t live with ’em, and you can’t live without ’em. That’s a cliche, too. But some cliches have earned their right to exist. …

Two months ago, Leland Yeager commented in this place about the virtues of prescriptivism — the act of prescribing grammar and diction, not just of …

Lately I had a chance to converse with Leland Yeager, who has frequently contributed his insights to this column, about the subject of prescriptivism — …

The world of words is like a banana republic — a scene of turmoil in which low and common entities constantly compete for power. You …

“What this country needs,” wrote Isabel Paterson in 1932, “is a lot less of all sorts of things.” She was thinking about laws – laws …

As you’ve noticed, this column has some of the attributes of a column of troops: it’s loud and destructive, its course is generally unpredictable, and …

It’s morning in America. The birds begin to sing, the sun transcends the clouds; all over the continent, readers of Liberty rise from innocent and …

Recently I had the pleasure of explaining an old expression to my young friend Liam Vavasour. We were discussing electoral predictions, and I mentioned that …

The subject for this month is linguistic mysteries – the things you hear or read that make you wonder, sometimes with amusement, sometimes with disgust, …