Richard Lederer
- Indexed articles, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 26, 2026
- Outlet visibility, for San Diego Union-Tribune
- Top 100K sites
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 4, 2026
Latest articles
Lederer on Language: Have to wonder if people in Congress are incongruous (opens the original)
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Mark Twain wrote, “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member ofCongress. But I repeat myself.” As the midterm elections approach, I offer other smears that have been directed at Congress: DEAR RICHARD: I’m writing to ask what the correct multiple is for hummingbirds. We have a bumper crop this year, at least a dozen, and only three feeders. How should we refer to our flock?-Jane Sorrells, Riverside DEAR JANE: The most common collective nouns for hummingbirds are “a charm of hummin
Lederer on Language: Raveling out the story behind the supreme law of our land (opens the original)
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On Sept. 17, we celebrate Constitution Day. Our United States Constitution has significantly influenced many other constitutions around the world, particularly in its concepts ofseparation of powers, checks and balances, and enumerated rights. Our Constitution is the oldest written national constitution still in use in the world. It is relatively short, containing about 4,500 words. Although we have amended the document 27 times, we the people of the United States have never found it necessary t
Lederer on Language: A god or goddess could be hiding in your sentence (opens the original)
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Director Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, a film adaption of Homer’s Greek epic, has garnered more than a billion dollars at the box office and reacquainted audiences with the power of classical mythology. Of all the literary sources that adorn our English language, classical Greco-Roman mythology is one of the richest. We constantly speak and hear and write and read the names of the ancient gods and goddesses and heroes and heroines, even if we don’t always know it. The most famous of the epic
Lederer on Language: Literature lives at the KPBS San Diego Book Festival (opens the original)
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Next Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the University of San Diego, KPBS will host its annual San Diego Book Festival. The event is free for book lovers of all ages. Attendees willenjoy panel discussions with award-winning authors, activities, live entertainment, exhibitors including local authors, and independent booksellers. I will be manning my book booth, #45, along with a host of other authors in rows cleverly named Writers’ Block. I’d love to meet you at the festival. Literature liv
Lederer on Language: I invite you to play a letter-perfect game of charade words (opens the original)
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When I was a boy (and dinosaurs trampled the earth), the game of charades was wildly popular. In that competition, some of the players tried to guess a word or phrase from the actionsof another player who was not allowed to speak but who broke up the word or phrase into parts by gesturing. Although few of us play the game of charades these days, charade words abound, words that can be meaningly cleaved into smaller words: Nowhere in the Union-Tribune have you everseen charade words, but they are
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For San Diego Union-Tribune, the outlet · Measured Aug 1, 2026
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