Customer Reviews

A Man of My Words: Reflections on the English Language

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"Have you heard about the liberated Irish woman? Her name was Erin Go Braless."

"If planes taxi on runways, I wonder, do taxis plane on streets?"

If you think jokes like this are funny, you will love A Man of My Words. He's got a million of 'em.

Richard Lederer's latest collection of essays about language ranges from puns to world English, from Ebonics to grammar lessons. Many of these selections seem somewhat dated. For instance, he talks about the differences between American English and British English by pointing out English-isms such as "bob" for a shilling (when did they last use shillings, about 1975?), and says that in Britain, "billion" means a million million, but I believe they use it to mean a thousand million, as in America, and have for a while now. References to Jackie Gleason, "Saturday Night Live comedian" Steve Martin, and Conan the Grammarian add to the "blast from the past" feeling of this collection.

Fans of Lederer will enjoy these pieces that include a transcript of Lederer on the Jim Bohannon radio show, a discussion of the pronunciation of "nuclear," and many, many puns.

This book is a collections of essays by Richard Lederer. I have a casual interest in language and wordplay, but I found some of the essays rather boring. For instance, reading the chapter on fadspeak was just painful for me. It was one long string of catchphrases and slang. On the other hand, some of the essays were very entertaining. Either way there is enough in this book that you are bound to like some of the chapters.