A Man of My Words: Reflections on the English Language by Richard Lederer

From the Publisher

Praise for A Man of My Words

"In A Man of My Words, the remarkable Richard Lederer consummates his lifelong mission as a wonderfully gifted teacher and the world's most ardent promoter of the English language. The essays collected here could just as well be called The Best of Richard Lederer, for they display the dazzling breadth and perspicacity of the author's supple mind. This book is vintage Lederer--abounding with wisdom, humanity, and, as always, sidesplitting humor--and sure to please both longtime fans and new readers of his work."
--Charles Harrington Elster, author of Verbal Advantage and The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations

"Richard Lederer opens the treasure chest of English and delights in each shiny coin he finds. Both punderful romp and passionate reverie, A Man of My Words shimmers with wit and wisdom. This is Lederer's most personal and powerful book yet, the golden culmination of a life in letters."
-- Rob Kyff, a.k.a. "The Word Guy," nationally syndicated language columnist and author of Once Upon a Word

"Richard Lederer's A Man of My Words is a rollicking memoir of one man's lifelong love affair with language. Whether he's pun-tificating about the easy way to distinguish between lie and lay, railing against the mispronunciation of "nuclear," or pondering why we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway, this is Lederer at his verbivorous, language-besotted best."
--Martha Barnette, author of Dog Days and Dandelions and Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies

"Rollicking and frolicking through the verbal bounty of these pages, readers will find A Man of My Words to be a book for all seasons. Its marvel-filled topics,discoveries, and themes capture the ever-elusive, ever-enchanting romancing of English at which Richard Lederer has become our Cupid."
--Patricia K. Davis, author of A Midnight Carol


Praise for Richard Lederer
"Columnist and punster Richard Lederer may be William Safire's only living peer at writing about grammar, word usage, and derivations."
--Washington Post Book World

"Richard Lederer's delight in English is itself delightful - and contagious!"
--Edwin Newman, author of Strictly Speaking and A Civil Tongue

"Lederer beguiles and bedazzles."
-- Los Angeles Times

"Richard Lederer ought to be declared a national treasure."
-- Richmond Times Dispatch

Publishers Weekly

William Safire has sparked many word debates, but also burning brightly is 65-year-old word detective and language lecturer Lederer (Anguished English, etc.). Self-labeled Attila the Pun and Conan the Grammarian, he reaches a million readers with his syndicated "Looking at Language" column. His columns have been slightly rewritten to spice up this clever collection, an appetizing antipasto that fishes for pungent puns. Topics range from split infinitives to political correctness, from word play to letter play: "TWENTY-NINE is spelled with letters made of lines only-twenty-nine of them, to be exact." He begins with American and Britspeak divergences ("Colour by Technicolor") and words substituted in Cockney rhyming slang: "D'ye 'ear me, or are ye Mutt and Jeff? = Do you hear me, or are you deaf?" These subjects and several others are posed as games and quizzes. Listing words with Native American origins (apossoun = opossum), he moves on to accents, bilingual puns, circus argot, long and short words, the origin of OK, poker parlance, pop culture catchphrases ("Isn't that special?") and Southernisms. One amusing piece is totally written in the cliches of "fadspeak": "Do the math. Get used to it.... It's a done deal because I've got a full plate, and I bring a lot to the table." Actually, Lederer does bring a lot to the table, joking and gagging up a total of 45 essays, mostly entertaining but best digested in small portions. (Dec.) FYI: Also in December is a reissue of Lederer's The Cunning Linguist (Griffin), so expect double promotions and double entendres. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Columnist, prolific language humorist, and radio-show host Lederer offers over 40 brief essays that illuminate wide-ranging aspects of the English language. The essays mix puns, anecdotes, poems, quotations, and six word games with serious discussion of grammar and literary history. These creative essays demonstrate and delight in the complex nature of language and linguistic change. In one game, for instance, readers identify names of movie stars from clues, which are puns. Elsewhere, Lederer rebuts journalist Jesse Sheidlower, insisting upon the correct pronunciation of the word nuclear, and takes Ann Landers to task for tolerating certain grammatical or spelling errors. Yet in the essay "Conan the Grammarian," Lederer amusingly debunks traditional "rules" regarding ending a sentence with a preposition or splitting infinitives. A unique, skillful combination of humor and substance, this compilation is recommended for public and academic libraries.-Marianne Orme, Des Plaines P.L., IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

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Table of Contents