I welcome new words, or old words used in new ways, provided the result is more precision, added color or greater expressiveness.

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.

When I need to know the meaning of a word, I look it up in a dictionary.

In dealing with Syria's dictator...only force counts. No cease-fire was attainable in Lebanon until the 16-inch guns of the battleship New Jersey started shelling Syria's proxies; suddenly, sweet reason prevailed in Damascus.

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.

The most fun in breaking a rule is in knowing what rule you're breaking.

It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.