It's A Mitzvah!

The San Diego Union Tribune's Tod Leonard was subjected to that modern newspaper advertising guru's idea of extending the brand: an online chat.

It did allow him to answer a question I had posed on the site last week:

The Buick Invitational will be played as usual in 2008. The original plan was to play the final two rounds on the North Course, but when the City Council rejected the idea of a redesign, the Century Club asked the USGA for permission to use the South for the weekend, and the USGA agreed.

The chat also provided Leonard a chance to bond with his readers, and to teach someone like yours truly who has been known to use the same word that got Leonard in trouble.

donstone(Q) Do you have any idea what the offensive word "schmuck" means that you used so inappropriately in your column today??

TodLeonard(A) My dictionary.com tells me that it means "obnoxious or contemptible person." Apparently, it's also yiddish for penis, although I certainly did not know that. As is fairly clear in the story, I used it because it rhymed with luck. My apologies if you were offended, and I'll reconsider the next time I think about using it.

L'Chaim to life!