**** 4 stars By Anyechka (Rensselaer, NY United States) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) I couldn’t stop reading this book because it was so packed with wonderful words and expressions, many of which I had never even heard of. As I read the introduction, I couldn’t believe that so many young people entering college today have, for …
Be Like Sacha
When determining who to blame for the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, don’t’ forget Sacha Baron Cohen. More than any other single person Cohen has established that it’s okay to lure others into humiliating themselves on-camera, then make the results public so the rest of us can enjoy a good laugh. The two classmates …
"Where Does That Word Come From?" Ralph Keyes Talks Retro
Faster Times Ralph Keyes is the author of fifteen books, but in some ways his most recent one—“I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime, and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech”—seems like the one he was born to write. Having authored the 1977 exploration “Is There Life After …
The Medium is the Message
In a recent photo of the Obamas bicycling on Martha’s Vineyard, Michelle and their two girls are wearing helmets, Barack isn’t. Message to the world: women and children need to wear bicycle helmets; real men don’t.
Ambivalence About Google
I can tell from the way my book The Quote Verifier gets referred to online these days that most of those who refer to it have only seen that work on Google Books. Needless to say this doesn’t please me. Better they should buy a copy, or at least look at it in the library. …
Feeling Immortal
Years ago, while doing research for a book on risk-taking (Chancing It: Why We Take Risks), I interviewed lots of skydivers, rock climbers and the wire walker Philippe Petit. Even though such activities have caused countless fatalities, all told me they were sure they wouldn’t be one. Why? “Because I’m good at it.” The implication …