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The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time: Wit and Wisdom from the Popular "On Language" Column in The New York Times Magazine
The author of No Uncertain Terms and Words of Wisdom presents a wealth of humorous new investigations into language, usage, words, speech, and writing. 25,000 first printing.
436 pages, Hardcover
First published June 29, 2004
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123 people want to read
About the author
William Safire
100 books55 followersWilliam Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter.
He was perhaps best known as a long-time syndicated political columnist for the New York Times and a regular contributor to "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine, a column on popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics.
He was perhaps best known as a long-time syndicated political columnist for the New York Times and a regular contributor to "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine, a column on popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 22, 2026
I believe parts of this book were read aloud to me by my parents when I was in fourth or fifth grade or so. At least, I can be sure some of the prescriptive linguistic musings of Bill Safire were read to me. These contributed to my appreciation for language and my interest in the questions of usage, which have also been profoundly important to other writers whose work I love, namely David Foster Wallace, a certified grammar SNOOT.
This book is a fairly large collection of newspaper columns that originally appeared at some point during his 30-year tenure as the "On Language" columnist at The New York Times Magazine. The columns are ordered alphabetically rather than chronologically, though Safire takes some liberties here, for obvious reasons. His general tone is avuncular. He is consistently concerned with colloquialisms, Americanisms, neologism, and/or connotation. It's intriguing to consider how the more computationally powerful text analysis tools and comprehensive digital archives would have reshaped Safire's work today two decades later. In fact, in a somewhat old-fashion manner, the book includes selected reader correspondences, which often provided corrections or additional depth. This often features some fairly eminent scholars like Jacques Barzun or political figures like Antonin Scalia.
Some of the columns on neologisms haven't aged gracefully. It was the early years of the internet and a lot of that terminology has undergone rapid transitions or evolution or alternatively reverted back to trend from some fad that was catching Safire's eye at the time. Safire's is infrequently prescient about the what future trends in usage in digital contexts would look like, though he doesn't come off as particularly stodgy or stuffy either. It was just hard to see the linguistic shifts to come from a 20th century vantage point.
I really appreciated when Safire would try to clarify the murky origins of some strange American locution or regional words or expressions. These columns were the most interesting from a linguistic perspective.
Some of his best writing appears quite at random, where he rattles off a paragraph chock-full of deft word play. These can sometimes be tangential to the main topic of the column too. He always tries to bring it home a central conceit in most columns, but he's quite a discursive writer, clearly having significant latitude with his column.
All in all, I came to this book dimly aware of Safire as a word maven and a speechwriter for Republican pols. I leave with the same impression and with some more appreciation for his craft, though I wish I had read a unified work of his rather than a collection of unrelated works to re-introduce myself to his writing.
This book is a fairly large collection of newspaper columns that originally appeared at some point during his 30-year tenure as the "On Language" columnist at The New York Times Magazine. The columns are ordered alphabetically rather than chronologically, though Safire takes some liberties here, for obvious reasons. His general tone is avuncular. He is consistently concerned with colloquialisms, Americanisms, neologism, and/or connotation. It's intriguing to consider how the more computationally powerful text analysis tools and comprehensive digital archives would have reshaped Safire's work today two decades later. In fact, in a somewhat old-fashion manner, the book includes selected reader correspondences, which often provided corrections or additional depth. This often features some fairly eminent scholars like Jacques Barzun or political figures like Antonin Scalia.
Some of the columns on neologisms haven't aged gracefully. It was the early years of the internet and a lot of that terminology has undergone rapid transitions or evolution or alternatively reverted back to trend from some fad that was catching Safire's eye at the time. Safire's is infrequently prescient about the what future trends in usage in digital contexts would look like, though he doesn't come off as particularly stodgy or stuffy either. It was just hard to see the linguistic shifts to come from a 20th century vantage point.
I really appreciated when Safire would try to clarify the murky origins of some strange American locution or regional words or expressions. These columns were the most interesting from a linguistic perspective.
Some of his best writing appears quite at random, where he rattles off a paragraph chock-full of deft word play. These can sometimes be tangential to the main topic of the column too. He always tries to bring it home a central conceit in most columns, but he's quite a discursive writer, clearly having significant latitude with his column.
All in all, I came to this book dimly aware of Safire as a word maven and a speechwriter for Republican pols. I leave with the same impression and with some more appreciation for his craft, though I wish I had read a unified work of his rather than a collection of unrelated works to re-introduce myself to his writing.
April 22, 2022
Basically a collection of his NYT column on words. Safire's weekly column was the first thing I read when I got the weekender. I miss his wit and wisdom. The references are dated to the Bush / Clinton years but that's okay - synergy is still an awful word. Terrible really Bigly. Huuge.
June 1, 2020
It's exactly what you think a long book about the obscure etymology of certain words would be
September 27, 2022
Excellent view on language and its usage
November 8, 2008
This looks at common phrases and words like "keep it short" or "control freak" and gives modern examples of usage.
Read
January 29, 2011A collection of Safire's language columns from his NYTimes days. Okay, but not really what I was looking for, so I return it unfinished.
March 19, 2015
Safire rules
William Safire at his best. Only he could approach language with so much panache. Great read for anyone who appreciates the intricacies of the language
William Safire at his best. Only he could approach language with so much panache. Great read for anyone who appreciates the intricacies of the language
Want to read
June 20, 2017mentioned in June Casagrande's Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews