On the analogy of 'Dictionary Johnson,' we call Fred R. Shapiro, editor of the just-published Yale Book of Quotations (well worth the $50 price), 'Quotationeer Shapiro.' Shapiro does original research, earning his 1,067-page volume a place on the quotation shelf next to Bartlett's and Oxford's.

You don't overturn a previous court's decisions lightly and I think most Americans are somewhere in the middle on abortion and there's not going to be a revolution here at all.

Adjective salad is delicious, with each element contributing its individual and unique flavor; but a puree of adjective soup tastes yecchy.

Cast aside any column about two subjects. It means the pundit chickened out on the hard decision about what to write about that day.

Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?

A dependent clause is like a dependent child: incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.

When articulation is impossible, gesticulation comes to the rescue.