No Apology Is Not Acceptable

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 9/16/2000 6:41:33 PM, gbarrett at MONICKELS.COM writes:

<< Barry, go get 'em. But I think the only way you'll ever get what
you want is if you take out an advertisement. Of course, as you
pointed out, ads are not indexed by Lexis-Nexis and the like so
there'd be little hope it'd turn up the next time somebody
researched it. >>

In general, over the many years that he has been at it, William Safire has
been a source of linguistic enlightenment in a dark and goofy field of
mindless popularizers, and he has been a strong supporter of the American
Dialect Society. Moreover, many of the guest columns that have appeared over
the years in "On Language" have given a number of linguists and
lexicographical enthusiasts a wider audience than all their books and
articles (and innumerable internet postings) combined.

I think it would be way cool if Safire asked Barry to do a guest column next
summer. Barry could right numerous incredibly significant lexicographical
wrongs that have been done him (and science in general) by all the niggling
nabobs of newsprintism. Of course, well, like, as my old granny used to say,
you know, you can catch more flies with honey than you do with sour grapes.