-- Bill Gershon, Skokie

A. It's true that the word "podium" comes from the Greek "pod" for "foot," as does the word "podiatrist," and originally meant a platform for your feet. But a word's history can't enforce its meaning. "Lectern" comes from a Latin root meaning "read," so by the same logic the only thing you'd be allowed to do behind a lectern is read.

The first test for English usage must always be this: What will communicate clearly, and what will confuse? Telling someone to stand behind the podium will be understood by nearly every educated English speaker alive. Telling someone to stand on the podium will get you strange looks.

Q. Please discuss the differences between "bring" and "take." I hear people say, "I will bring the clothes to the dry cleaners." I would say, "I will take the clothes."

-- Jeanne Martineau, Chicago

A. The old rule is that "bring" is an action that comes toward you and "take" is an action that goes away from you. But this is a two-dimensional model for a three-dimensional world.

If you throw a party, should you ask your friends to "bring" or "take" their own beer? The beer bottles will be moving in a direction toward you but away from them (as they read the invitation). In this case, the power of the abbreviation "BYOB" probably influences people to say "bring," but the direction of action -- and the point of view of the person saying or hearing it -- doesn't really matter.

Then there's the fact that "bring" can mean "escort," as in, "Let me bring you to your car." That usage might lead people to think of themselves as escorting their clothes to the cleaners, or their beer bottles to your party -- "bringing" them.

So you can try to follow the "bring here, take away" rule. But if you need to pause to draw yourself a map of a proposed action before you choose which word to say, or if you can't decide if you're taking or escorting, then worrying about this distinction (and imposing it on others) is probably a waste of time.

Q. We copy editors are going nuts! Is it 0.9 inch or inches?

-- Jayne Bohner, Wheaton

A. I asked Bill Walsh, copy chief of the national desk at The Washington Post and author of "Lapsing Into a Comma" and "Elephants of Style."

"I'd say inches," Walsh replied by e-mail. "In 'Lapsing Into a Comma' I advanced the idea that it's incorrect to think of plural as more than one and singular as one or less. Rather, the singular is uniquely suited to the number one. If something is free and someone asks you how many dollars it costs, you might say 'zero dollars'; you'd never say 'zero dollar.'"

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Contact Nathan Bierma at onlanguage@gmail.com

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