In Love with Norma Loquendi

by William Safire

The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist describes his lifelong fascination with Norma Loquendi--common speech--in a collection of columns that celebrates the mysteries and continual evolution of the English language. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction

349 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

William 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.

Reviews

[Harron68 · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of his books on language, he wrote with verve and humor. It was from 1994, so is pretty old by language evolution standards. Unfortunately, the hair-splitting over differences between a gerund and predicate nominative or adjective becomes tiring. He often refers to the now abandoned-from- teaching method of diagramming sentences, so mystifies younger would-be wordsmiths.
Witty it is, but repetitive too and too often replies from readers of his column run on at length and restate corrections to Mr S's researches. Pretty dull, and it took me weeks of picking it up and putting it down before I finally finished it off. If splitting infinitives doesn't bother you, maybe you should skip this quirky assemblage of columns from the nineties. Three stars,

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Safire quips that at a convention of lexicographers, everyone would be afraid to make the first speech. I too fear wading into this arena where word nerds nitpick the etymology, syntax and participle of each new expression that enters modern parlance. This is a collection of William Safire’s weekly column, “On Language,” that appeared in the New York Times Magazine. The author includes letters from his fellow “phrasedicks” that supplement or contradict his conclusions. By now very dated (many citations are from the Gulf War), the columns are often witty but sometimes tiring.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated but mostly interesting essays from Safire.

The essays revolve around grammar, which is not dated. However, some of the people and events mentioned are receding into the mists of time.

Was interested to note that one of his contacts on the topic of grammar was Ira Flatow, the host of Science Friday.

The setup of the book makes it easy to pick and choose essays of interest to the reader.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a whole lot of Safire, that's for sure. It was good, but the heft of it all gets to you somewhere in the middle and you realize why people would read this day by day in the paper (or week by week - it's not really clear, since it was published at a time when everyone just knew it, very unhelpful for posterity) and not all in one lump sum. His cleverness and facility with language are enjoyable, certainly, which is likely why he had the various positions in society he held for so long. Sadly, much of it is rather dated, especially the political entries, which may be a significant drawback, especially to people younger than me (which accounts for most of the world's population, apparently). Many of the entries deal with people whose time on the world stage ended almost 25 years ago (I was about to type "15," but, yeah, well...), so their currency has dwindled. How many Secretaries of State from the 1980s can you name? Exactly. Many names rang the tocsins of long-distant memories, but that's about it (not to be confused with "toxins"). Some may enjoy this for the response letters included, hearing from such used-to-be-famous people such as Jacques Barzun, George Carlin, Colin Powell, Mrs. John Steinbeck, and others you may or may not recognize. I enjoyed many of the linguistically-driven entries, of course, being me, and I'm glad I read it, but it's a total package that today may be slightly less than the sum of its parts, no disrespect intended to Mr. Safire who is today, years after he died, still far more intelligent than I am.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Safire gets paid to criticize and question English usage. But there are plenty of people out there willing to do it for free! Some of the mildly humorous parts of this non-fiction memoir are when he lists the attempts of people who seek to correct him when they catch him in an error. While his insights about word usage can drag in spots, the book contains odd and fascinating tidbits about language. All in all, the clear love for and absorption in the English language shine through in almost every chapter. Highly recommended for those who relish the challenge of precise speech. But this will prove boring to almost anybody else so they might want to skip it.

[Barry Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

DELIGHTFUL BOOK BY THE LANGUAGE MAVEN OF THE NEWSPAPER. A COLLECTION OF ARTICLES WITH LETTERS OF RESPONSE ON A VARIETY OF LANGUAGE TOPICS, INCLUDING SUCH NOTABLES AS “A LINE IN THE SAND”, AND “BUBBA” (ACTUALLY A FORM OF JEWISH GRANDMOTHER).

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making grammar interesting since 1994.