William Safire

Author

December 17, 1929

September 27, 2009

Report

As seen on Wikipedia

William Lewis Safir , better known as William Safire , was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter.He was a long-time syndicated political columnist for The New York Times and wrote the On Language column in The New York Times Magazine about popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics.Early lifeSafire was born William Lewis Safir in New York City, New York the son of Ida and Oliver Craus Safir. His family was Jewish, and originated in Romania on his father's side. Safire later added the e to his surname for pronunciation reasons, though some of his relatives continue to use the original spelling.Safire graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, a specialized public high school in New York City. He attended Syracuse University but dropped out after two years.

William Safire

When I need to know the meaning of a word, I look it up in a dictionary.

Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.

The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it’s like a Supreme Court appointment – they’re stuck with you for a long time.

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.

I think we all have a need to know what we do not need to know.

The noun phrase straw man, now used as a compound adjective as in ‘straw-man device, technique or issue,’ was popularized in American culture by ‘The Wizard of Oz.’

Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.

A reader ought to be able to hold it and become familiar with its organized contents and make it a mind’s manageable companion.

At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.

If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.

Stop worrying about the ‘dumbing down’ of our language by bloggers, tweeters, cableheads and MSM thumbsuckers engaged in a ‘race to the bottom’ of the page by little minds confined to little words.