Quote

Sometimes I know the meaning of a word but am tired of it and feel the need for an unfamiliar, especially precise or poetic term, perhaps one with a nuance that flatters my readership's exquisite sensitivity.

William Safire

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William Safire
Age: 79 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 17
Died: 2009
Died: September 27
Author
Columnist
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
William Lewis Safire
Word
Sensitivity
Need
Precise
Feel
Poetic
Sometimes
Tired
Flatters
Feels
Meaning
Readership
Needs
Especially
Nuance
Perhaps
Unfamiliar
Term
Exquisite

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Dangling punch lines to forgotten stories remain in the language like the smile of the Cheshire cat.
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The CEO era gave rise to the CFO (not certified flying object, as you might imagine, but chief financial officer) and, most recently, the CIO, chief investment officer, a nice boost for the bookkeeper you can't afford to give a raise . . .
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English is a stretch language one size fits all.
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when he was British Foreign Secretary, said he received the following telegram from an irate citizen: To hell with you. Offensive letter follows.
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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.
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President Reagan is a rhetorical roundheels, as befits a politician seeking empathy with his audience.
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Better to be a jerk that knees than a knee that jerks.
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I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.
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As long as one American is hungry... then we have unfinished business in this country.
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The Latin motto over Poindexter's new Pentagon office reads Scientia Est Potentia - knowledge is power. Exactly: the government's infinite knowledge about you is its power over you.
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In dealing with Syria's dictator...only force counts. No cease-fire was attainable in Lebanon until the 16-inch guns of the battleship New Jersey started shelling Syria's proxies suddenly, sweet reason prevailed in Damascus.
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Have a definite opinion.
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Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'
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Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.
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Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
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Adjective salad is delicious, with each element contributing its individual and unique flavor but a puree of adjective soup tastes yecchy.
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... it's Bush's baby, even if he shares its popularization with Gorbachev. Forget the Hitler 'new order' root F.D.R. used the phrase earlier.
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I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian.
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