eBook - ePub
No Uncertain Terms
More Writing from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine
- 384 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
No Uncertain Terms
More Writing from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine
About this book
There is no wittier, more amiable or more astute word maven than Pulitzer Prizewinning columnist William Safire.
For many people, the first item on the agenda for Sunday morning is to sit down and read Safire's "On Language" column in The New York Times Magazine, then to compose a "Gotcha" letter to the Times. Each of his books on language is a classic, to be read, re-read and fought over. Safire is the beloved, slightly crotchety guru of contemporary vocabulary, speech, language, usage and writing, as close as we are likely to get to a modern Samuel Johnson. Fans, critics and fellow language mavens eagerly await his books on language. This one is no exception.
William Safire has written the weekly New York Times Magazine column "On Language" since 1979. His observations on grammar, usage and etymology have led to the publication of fourteen "word books" and have made him the most widely read writer on the English language today. The subjects for his columns come from his insights into the current political scene, as well as from technology, entertainment and life in general. Known for his delight in catching people (especially politicians) who misuse words, he is not above tackling his own linguistic gaffes. Safire examines and comments on language trends and traces the origins of everyday words, phrases and clichés to their source. Scholarly, entertaining, lively and thoughtful, Safire's pointed commentaries on popular language and culture are at once provocative and enlightening.
Want the 411 on what's phat and what's skeevy? Here's the "straight dope" on everything from "fast-track legislation" to "the Full Monty," with deft and well-directed potshots at those who criticize, twist the usage of or misunderstand the meaning of such classic examples of American idiom as "grow'd like Topsy," "and the horse you rode in on," "drop a dime" (on someone), "go figure" and hundreds more, together with sharp, witty and passionately opinionated letters from both ordinary readers and equally irate or puzzled celebrities who have been unable to resist picking up a pen to put Mr. Safire in his place or to offer detailed criticism, additional examples or amusing anecdotes.
No Uncertain Terms is a boisterous and brilliant look at the oddities and foibles of our language. Not only "a blast and a half," but wise, clever and illuminating, it is a book that Mencken would have loved and that should be on the desk (or at the bedside) of everyone who shares Mr. Safire's profound love of the English language and his penchant for asking, "Where does that come from?"
This new collection is a joy that will spark the interest of language lovers everywhere.
For many people, the first item on the agenda for Sunday morning is to sit down and read Safire's "On Language" column in The New York Times Magazine, then to compose a "Gotcha" letter to the Times. Each of his books on language is a classic, to be read, re-read and fought over. Safire is the beloved, slightly crotchety guru of contemporary vocabulary, speech, language, usage and writing, as close as we are likely to get to a modern Samuel Johnson. Fans, critics and fellow language mavens eagerly await his books on language. This one is no exception.
William Safire has written the weekly New York Times Magazine column "On Language" since 1979. His observations on grammar, usage and etymology have led to the publication of fourteen "word books" and have made him the most widely read writer on the English language today. The subjects for his columns come from his insights into the current political scene, as well as from technology, entertainment and life in general. Known for his delight in catching people (especially politicians) who misuse words, he is not above tackling his own linguistic gaffes. Safire examines and comments on language trends and traces the origins of everyday words, phrases and clichés to their source. Scholarly, entertaining, lively and thoughtful, Safire's pointed commentaries on popular language and culture are at once provocative and enlightening.
Want the 411 on what's phat and what's skeevy? Here's the "straight dope" on everything from "fast-track legislation" to "the Full Monty," with deft and well-directed potshots at those who criticize, twist the usage of or misunderstand the meaning of such classic examples of American idiom as "grow'd like Topsy," "and the horse you rode in on," "drop a dime" (on someone), "go figure" and hundreds more, together with sharp, witty and passionately opinionated letters from both ordinary readers and equally irate or puzzled celebrities who have been unable to resist picking up a pen to put Mr. Safire in his place or to offer detailed criticism, additional examples or amusing anecdotes.
No Uncertain Terms is a boisterous and brilliant look at the oddities and foibles of our language. Not only "a blast and a half," but wise, clever and illuminating, it is a book that Mencken would have loved and that should be on the desk (or at the bedside) of everyone who shares Mr. Safire's profound love of the English language and his penchant for asking, "Where does that come from?"
This new collection is a joy that will spark the interest of language lovers everywhere.
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Yes, you can access No Uncertain Terms by William Safire in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Communication Studies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Index of Names
A
Abrams, Herbert E.
Accardo, Tony
Adams, Franklin P. (FPA)
Adams, Henry
Adams, John
Aelfric
Agel, Jerome B.
Agnew, Spiro
Agtmael, Antoine van
Ahasuerus, King
Albee, Edward
Albright, Madeleine K.
Alcamo, Michael C.
Alcorn, Wallace
Alda, Alan
Alexander, Lamar
Algeo, Adele
Algeo, John
Allen, Diane Lacey
Allen, Fred
Allen, Paul
Allen, Steve
Allen, Thomas B.
Allen, Woody
Allport, Floyd
Altman, Lawrence K.
Anderson, George Weston
Anderson, Jack
Anderson, Sir John
Andrews, Dana
Andrews, John F.
Angelou, Maya
Angleton, James Jesus
Antiochus Epiphanes
Apple, R. W.
Arafat, Yasir
Aris, Rutherford
Aristotle
Armstrong, Louis
Arrow, Kenneth J.
Atcheson, Rev. Charles B.
Attlee, Clement
Ayres, Whit
B
Bacon, Ken
Bailey, James
Bailey, Rev. Larry
Baker, George
Baker, Howard
Baker, James Robert
Baker, Peter
Balandis, Marie
Baldrige, Letitia
Balfe, Judith Huggins
Barclay, Alexander
Barnard, Charles
Barnett, William
Barnhill, Suzanne S.
Barry, Dave
Barry, Marion
Barry, Philip
Bartis, Peter
Bartlett, John
Bartley, Robert
Barzun, Jacques
Beatty, Warren
Bede, Venerable
Beerbohm, Max
Begala, Paul
Bellenden, John
Beller, Miles
Bellow, Saul
Bender, Mark
Bennett, Robert S.
Benny, Jack
Berg, Dorothy
Berger, Rev. Darrell
Berger, Samuel R.
Berger, Thomas
Bergmann, Rolf
Berke, Richard L.
Berkeley, Bishop George
Berkowitz, Adena K.
Berkson, Seymour
Berman, Otto
Bernstein, Ted
Bertrand, Gary
Bettis, Jerome
Billingsley, Michael
Binswanger, C. K.
Birnbaum, Jeffrey H.
Blackstone, Sir William
Blair, Tony
Blake, C.
Blake, William
Blass, Bill
Bleiberg, Robert
Bleier, Edward
Bloom, Harold
Bloomer, Amelia
Blumenthal, Sidney
Bonavolonta,...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Colophon
- Other Books by William Safire
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Tracking the Fast Track
- Achillesâ Heels
- Back to My Roots
- Barryâs Ghost
- That Flexible That
- Brought to Heal
- Burn Before Reading
- Cannot Can
- Chilling Effect
- Chum for Nonchums
- Dam Untoward Tinkers
- The E-lancer Eats a Bagelwich
- Faith-Based
- Gam(bl)ing
- Hair-Raising Fund-Raising
- Hamlet Contâd: Squad Squad Strikes Again
- If True
- Jammed Together Names Inc.
- Kiss the Lawyers
- Lang Syne
- James McCawley
- Name That Nation
- Ockhamâs Razorâs Close Shave
- Paddling Your Own Canoodle
- Ratcheting Up the Periscope
- Schlumping Along
- Take My QuestionâââPlease!
- Tchotchkes
- Up the Down Ladder
- Venerable
- Wandering Words
- Youâre the Atop
- Acknowledgments
- Index of Names
- Index of Terms