Peter Granitz, “Farewell? Good Bye? Au Revoir?” (Blog of the Nation, from NPR’s Talk of the Nation).
Ben Zimmer could certainly advise anyone which word to use right now. And before him, William Safire would have, too.
Last Sunday The New York Times Magazine published the final “On Language” column. For three decades, it reminded readers of middle school teachers hammering home vocabulary words and sentence structure. And the words and phrases weren’t wily-nilly either — they were pegged to the news.
Read the rest here. (Related On Language column)