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Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?

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
Noun
Nouns
Straight
Available
Quite
Use
Right
Writing

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A dependent clause is like a dependent child: incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.
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I want my questions answered by an alert and experienced politician, prepared to be grilled and quoted -- not my hand held by an old smoothie.
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Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.
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On the analogy of 'Dictionary Johnson,' we call Fred R. Shapiro, editor of the just-published Yale Book of Quotations (well worth the $50 price), 'Quotationeer Shapiro.' Shapiro does original research, earning his 1,067-page volume a place on the quotation shelf next to Bartlett's and Oxford's.
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Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected.
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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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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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Never feel guilty about reading, it's what you do to do your job.
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No one flower can ever symbolize this nation. America is a bouquet.
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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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Of higher value than any one leader is the cause.
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One challenge to the arts in America is the need to make the arts, especially the classic masterpieces, accessible and relevant to today's audience.
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The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.
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One difference between French appeasement and American appeasement is that France pays ransom in cash and gets its hostages back while the United States pays ransom in arms and gets additional hostages taken.
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A reader should be able to identify a column without its byline or funny little picture on top purely by look or feel, or its turgidity ratio.
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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 most fun in breaking a rule is in knowing what rule you're breaking.
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When articulation is impossible, gesticulation comes to the rescue.
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Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'
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Create your own constituency of the infuriated.
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