— Letter from the Editors —

Selected Words and Phrases from William Safire's "On Words" Column That Reveal a Libertine Heart Beating within the Conservative Wordsmith's Bosom

Perhaps he’s just extra saucy this morn from New Year’s Eve revelry, but today’s column is simply engorged with innocent-but-suggestive terms:

* jaws of coming
* snatched
* plucked
* snatched
* snatching (not plucking)
* phrasedicks
* plucked
* snatched
* jawboning
* huffs
* puffs
* fallacious
* San Francisco saloonkeeper

How many Times pieces can thrust four snatches into as many pargraphs?

“Clichés for ’06,” The New York Times, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006.