The logophile and writer Howard Richler shares some wonderful, witty word stories from his new book Strange Bedfellows: The Private Lives of Words (Ronsdale Press, 2010), with Joseph Planta.

Strange Bedfellows: The Private Lives of Words by Howard Richler. (Ronsdale Press, 2010) Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Strange Bedfellows

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line. This is THECOMMENTARY.CA.

Years ago, I flunked a first-year course in linguistics. I suppose I was uninterested or bored, or I simply didn’t apply myself. However, one of the more delightful books to hit my desk this season is Strange Bedfellows: The Private Lives of Words. Its author Howard Richler joins me now. It’s a fascinating, informative, and engrossing book on a great number of words, their origin, original meaning, and for some of them, where the English language has stolen them from. It’s also often amusing, and I find myself still—weeks after getting the book—dipping into it. Howard Richler is a lifetime logophile, who was a language columnist for many years. He’s written five other books on language including The Dead Sea Scroll Palindromes, Can I Have a Word With You?, and Take My Words: A Wordaholic’s Guide to the English Language. Strange Bedfellows, the latest, is published by Ronsdale Press. I’m very pleased to welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, from Montreal this day, Howard Richler; Good morning, Mr. Richler.

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