Here's a challenge: Assemble a meaningful phrase that returns fewer than 10 Google results. Now try "harsh reality" (151 billion results). Or "fearless leader" (a comparatively puny 25 billion).

Sign up for the daily CJR newsletter. You would think that, with all the words we have in our language, it would be perfectly natural to replace a word in an ...

A few days ago, I had an encounter with an old student of mine at a shopping mall. He said, “Sir, you taught us Technical English almost nine years ago. Though I don’t remember everything, there is ...