Q Where did we get the word “wig” for a fake head of hair? – H.C., Cumberland, Md. A: In the early 16th century, it was fashionable for women, and later for men, to wear a headpiece of artificial hair called a “periwig.” “Periwig” developed from the earlier “perwyke,” a modification of the Middle French […]

The following editorial appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Tuesday, July 15: When the quiet man says we’re on a path to war, he deserves to be taken seriously. And when the quiet man sounding the warning is Stanford’s William Perry, it’s cause for genuine alarm.Former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry has mostly […]

In the last four decades, many millions of manufacturing jobs in this country have been shipped overseas. This transfer was supposed to be part of the “win-win” process of free trade. But 27 straight years of growing trade deficits with the rest of the world makes one wonder: who’s winning?Conventional economists and their Republican and […]

Hard economic times can spawn proposals whose unintended consequences are potentially worse than the situation they seek to alleviate. So it is with a measure now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. With the best of apparent motives – to increase the flow of philanthropic dollars to those who need them most – the […]

WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending July 18. HOUSE Meat origin labels Voting 193 for and 208 against, the House on July 14 defeated a bid to require meat sold in the U.S. to be labeled by country of origin, just as […]

L. Paul Bremer may be the best thing Americans have going for them in Iraq. Unlike the administration he works for, the U.S. viceroy in Baghdad is willing to confront mistakes.Bremer is ready to reverse decisions that were bloopers. After sacking the whole Iraqi army without pay – leaving 500,000 men armed, angry and jobless […]

A couple of years ago, The New York Times gave some remarkably good advice to President Bush. In fashioning an energy policy, said the Times, the president should not rely on “old cliches” like freeing America from foreign oil. The president should rely on new cliches instead.Physician, heal thyself! The Times regularly falls into the […]

Watching kids’ TV shows for 25 hours a day and attending weddings – you gotta love the baby. Hi! How are you? Good! Here is my column! It has short words today. Why? Because I am spending a LOT of time with my daughter. Her name is Sophie. She is three! My wife is a […]

A majority of the justices seem to be under the spell of the country’s elites. In its affirmative action and sodomy decisions, the Supreme Court defined itself, once again, as the instrument of America’s intellectual class.The Constitution and the 1964 Civil Rights Act say quite clearly that no one can be penalized or advantaged on […]

Q Can you give me the definition and origin of the word “caterwampus” or “cattywampus”? I’m not even sure how to spell it. – M.P., Minneapolis A: “Catawampus,” spelled in a variety of ways including your two, is an Americanism found most often in very informal or dialectal writing. The meaning of this colorful word […]