Proper Words in Proper Places

In The Lexicographer's Dilemma, I devote a few paragraphs to language "pundits" or "mavens." While admitting that writers like Theodore Bernstein, John Simon, and William Safire are all "fine writers," I point out that "they’re not linguists — they all have a good practical grasp of the language, but they don’t know much about the history of English or its underlying structures." And t Read More