Q Is saying “out loud” rather than “aloud” incorrect? It sounds less formal, but I feel like I hear it all the time in both formal and informal contexts. – L.W., Columbia, Tenn. A: “Out loud” was once widely decried as an error for “aloud,” and it is still sometimes described as a colloquialism to […]

AUSTIN, Texas – It is insufficient to stand around saying, “I told you Iraq would be a disaster.” Believe me, saying, “I told you so” is a satisfaction so sour it will gag you when people, including Americans, are dying every day.I think our greatest strength is still pragmatism. OK, this isn’t working, now what? […]

It has been four years since my father died.Four years ago, Aug. 6, 1999, I thought I would never recover from his death and never again feel happiness. But I did recover and go on with my life. During these past four years, I have tried not to think about his absence. But on this […]

Q A word that’s always interested me is “elope.” I always think of it as describing people running off to get married, but my dictionary tells me it has other meanings too. Can you explain its history and its uses? – E.L., Austin, Nev. A: “Elope” is a fairly old word, with its first recorded […]

This is what Sheri Miller said: “Nobody knows that we sometimes spend up to 12 hours working on a single word.” She is a director of research for the college entrance test known as ACT. She was being interviewed in June by a reporter for The Associated Press. After a pause she added:“But if my […]

What better way to celebrate “Talk Like A Pirate Day” than growling at unwanted calls. There’s just over a year to go before the 2004 presidential election, and everybody in the nation is extremely excited. Except of course the public. The public, shrewdly, pays no attention to presidential politics until all of the peripheral dorks […]

Why hasn’t the administration pushed for the resources for Iraq’s reconstruction? I keep waiting for the president to reveal our strategy for fighting terrorism in Baghdad.Instead all I hear is patriotic pep talk.“The more progress we make in Iraq the more desperate the terrorists will become,” President Bush told the American Legion on Tuesday. But […]

AUSTIN – One problem I have with Arnold Schwarzenegger is that he looks like a condom stuffed with walnuts. I realize that is superficial, shallow and unbecoming to a semi-serious-minded liberal like myself, but there it is. The other is that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to public policy.And therein […]

American indifference to Iraqi society and values is proving calamitous. That’s because American authorities remain dismissive of Middle Eastern culture, in which the powerful and ancient code of honor determines behavior and ideals. That code fuels the enmity of our opponents throughout the Arab world. Yet Washington policy-makers seem oblivious to Arab motivations and how […]

At the dawn of the 19th century, Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States, and the Mississippi River was the nation’s westernmost boundary. In the American spirit of exploration, Jefferson launched an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase and the uncharted continent.At the turn of […]