For more than 30 years, William Safire talked back to Americans about how they went about talking. He founded our On Language column in February 1979 and proceeded to write tens of thousands of words about phrases (fashionable and not), usages (proper and not), roots (definitive and not) and his own donnish taste — not! Bill was a democrat — very small “d” — with a passion for everyday discourse and a desire not for the last word but for a conversation about conversation. Long before the Internet came along (and provided him with a fresh trove of linguistic stuff), he built a Web-like community of language mavens who fed him tips, amplified, hondled (that’s for you, Bill!) and filled in from time to time when he took his summer vacation.
One of those mavens (he was actually among those vaunted few Lexicographic Irregulars whom Bill expected to keep him on his toes) was Ben Zimmer, and this week he takes over as the magazine’s On Language columnist.
Interview with Renee Montagne on NPR’s “Morning Edition” about taking over the “On Language” column.
When William Safire died last September, the veteran columnist for The New York Times left vacant a post that he had filled for more than 30 years. Safire originated the “On Language” column in The New York Times Magazine in 1979 and continued to write it until his death.
This week, the Times Magazine announced the name of the man who would take over the role of exploring and increasing the vocabularies of Americans: Ben Zimmer.
The name should be familiar to word fans already. Zimmer is the executive producer of two Web sites, visualthesaurus.com and vocabulary.com, that cater to word freaks. After Safire died, Zimmer wrote the column remembering his colleague’s contribution to linguistics. Still, Zimmer admits that his predecessor’s shadow is long.
“It is a little intimidating, I have to say, especially because I can’t reproduce William Safire’s very distinctive voice,” Zimmer tells NPR’s Renee Montagne. “I’ll put my own stamp on it. I’ll come at it in some ways in a more scholarly way because of my background in linguistics and linguistic anthropology. But also, I will be casting a wide net. You know, everything from technology to pop culture, high-brow, low-brow, everything in between. I’ll be on the lookout for all sorts of new developments that are happening in language.”
Interview on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” about taking over the “On Language” column.
Linguist, lexicographer and the new “On Language” columnist for the New York Times Magazine, Ben Zimmer, talks about the latest in political language and about how he’ll approach taking over for the late William Safire, the founder of the “On Language” column.
Interview with WCBS Newsradio about taking over the “On Language” column.
Someone new is now writing for the ‘On Language’ column in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Ben Zimmer’s first column is in this Sunday’s Magazine in his new position as the main columnist. Zimmer talks with WCBS 880’s Pat Farnack and tells her how it feels to step into the shoes of the late William Safire. “It’s a deep honor and privilege of course. It’s a bit daunting though, he was such a distinctive voice and writing that column for 30 years. I remember being very young, nine or 10 and I was already a big language buff and so I would read his column religiously. So, I recognize definitely big shoes to fill but I’m really excited about the opportunity,” said Zimmer.
The New York Times Magazine’s “On Language” column has a new voice, lexicographer and linguist Ben Zimmer. Zimmer, who also serves as executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus and Vocabulary.com, has a big sentence structure to fill. He’ll succeed the late wordsmith William Safire, who founded the column in 1979 and was the regular columnist until he died last fall. Will the column change… we’ll find out this weekend when Ben Zimmer takes over.
Interview on WBUR’s “On Point” with Tom Ashbrook about taking over as the new “On Language” columnist for the New York Times Magazine.
Language never stands still. Usage, phrasing, new words, new meanings, new “penumbras and emanations” are unending.
And it frames the way we see the world. For decades, language maven William Safire tracked the course and politics of American English in his “On Language” column for The New York Times. Last fall, the great maven died.
This weekend, his much younger successor, Ben Zimmer, steps up to the plate — ready to take on “the party of no,” the politics of yes, the verb “to Kanye,” and a whole lot more.
This hour, On Point: we’ll talk with the new language maven, Ben Zimmer.
Jack Lynch, “Zimmer at the Helm” (“Proper Words in Proper Places” blog, Psychology Today, Mar. 14, 2010)
William Safire wrote the On Language column for the New York Times Magazine for many years, and he was certainly a witty and genial commentator; I’ve read his columns, and the books collected from them, for many years. But Safire sometimes let his wit and his style take the place of serious engagement with the complexities of the language. Safire died last year; the Times has now announced his replacement: Ben Zimmer. I know Ben slightly, and know his work better, and am pleased to report he’s the real deal. He’s got a scholar’s knowledge of how language works, but, unlike so many linguists who presume to write about the language for layfolk, he can actually write. He’s already written a few On Language columns; now he’s taking over for real. I encourage those with an interest in language to keep an eye out for the columns. He’s one of the few who can navigate the narrow channel between the mumbo-jumbo on the one side and the hairballs on the other.
Being asked to write the “On Language” column must be the language-columnist equivalent of being asked to host The Tonight Show. William Safire set the standard for the position just as surely as Jack Paar did so for the late-night talk show. This is big–really, really big. The only thing bigger than this is the congratulations and best wishes we send to Ben Zimmer. Ben Zimmer, “On Language” columnist for The New York Times just sounds great, doesn’t it? This is going to be good.
The New York Times Magazine announced today the appointment of linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer as the new “On Language” columnist. Mr. Zimmer succeeds William Safire who was the founding and regular columnist until his death last fall. The column is a fixture in The Times Magazine and features commentary on the many facets – from grammar to usage – of our language. “On Language” will appear bi-weekly beginning March 21.
In making the announcement, Gerald Marzorati, editor of the magazine said, “Ben brings both an academic’s deep knowledge and a maven’s eye, ear and passion to his commentary on the way Americans write and speak now. We welcome him to our roster and know our readers and ‘On Language’ devotees will greatly enjoy his columns.”
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be welcomed in the space that William Safire called home for thirty years,” Mr. Zimmer said. “I look forward to continuing this fine tradition with my own take on how language shapes our past, present and future.”
“People are constantly seeking new sources of vocabulary, especially when it comes to ridiculing the awkward,” says Ben Zimmer, a linguist and the executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus, a lexicology website. “We think of psychiatric terms as needing to be precise, but they fall in and out of fashion.”