Take My Word for It

New York, NY: Times Books, 1986. First Edition [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Hugh Talman (Photo). Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. ix, [1], 357, [1] pages. Illustrations. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. William Lewis Safire December 17, 1929 September 27, 2009) 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 the author of "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine, a column on popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics from its inception. He was a public relations executive from 1955 to 1960. Previously, he had been a radio and television producer and an Army correspondent. He worked as a publicist for a homebuilder who exhibited a model home at an American trade fair at Sokolniki Park in Moscow in 1959-the one in which Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev had their famous Kitchen Debate. In this new collection drawn from his "On Language" column for the New York Times, Safire provides witty, erudite, and down-to-earth commentary on language and usage and entertainingly discusses the proper use of which and that, the pronunciation of junta and many other issues of language. Publisher's Weekly called this "a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamic growth of English..."