I wouldn’t say words are my passion, but they have always fascinated me, like something that I knew about but couldn’t fully understand. I am always open to the opportunity to learn more, to fill even one of the many holes in my knowledge of the world of words. Not that ...

When I was considering retiring my Palm TX in exchange for an iPod touch (no AT&T service in the rural area where I live, so no iPhone), one of my essential applications was a good Chinese dictionary. I speak Chinese fairly fluently but I’m not very literate; although I know ...