by Frank Herron
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All hail Sarah Ellison of Vanity Fair. Yesterday, VF published a lengthy interview she had with New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. Before zeroing in on the publisher and his decision to fire Executive Editor Jill Abramson, Ms. Ellison … Continue reading
by Frank Herron
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Vice President Joe Biden has a penchant for quoting–or trying to–Irish poet W.B. Yeats (shown at right). On Monday, September 17, he spoke on the phone with a few Iowa supporters while campaigning in that state. Here’s what he said … Continue reading
by Frank Herron
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Yesterday, longtime offensive lineman Matt Light (left, bearded) announced his retirement from the New England Patriots. During the moving and humorous ceremony, he turned to a quotation attributed to Aristotle (right, also bearded). Light ended his prepared remarks this way, … Continue reading
by Frank Herron
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There was a very interesting story by language expert Ben Zimmer in Sunday’s Boston Globe about the origin of the memorable word from Disney’s Mary Poppins film: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Anyway, the article sails along, telling a tale of the murky–and disputed–origins … Continue reading
by Frank Herron
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Misquotations pop up in the strangest places. Today, I was at a stationery store (it was stationary, too, by the way) looking at anniversary cards. (Don’t tell my wife; I’d like to surprise her.) There, I found two which each … Continue reading
by Frank Herron
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Nearly two years ago, Neil Boyd, professor and associate director of the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University, concluded that Canadians had apparently hit the canvas and were down for the count because of their growing attraction to blood-filled … Continue reading
by Frank Herron
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Sometimes we know a little too much for our own good when it comes to reporting some quoted material, even if it’s from, say, the line of a play. This happened in the New York Times in an article published … Continue reading