My parents could define almost any word because they had studied Latin in high school. Back in the ’60s, on our way to the Bronx, four of the seven kids in my family sat on the back seat of the family station wagon, awkwardly holding my dad’s gigantic, hard-covered, unabridged Webster’s Dictionary. We took turns…

Commentary Here’s a theme for a modern Christmas carol. “People are blasting Chanel’s $825 advent calendar on TikTok. TikTok users unboxing Chanel’s $825 advent calendar are complaining about the quality of items in the holiday package.” Dickens being unavailable, what sort of tale can I make of this news item about Karen meets Marley? For…