▁the ▁English ▁language ▁discuss ing ▁popular ▁et ym ology , ▁new ▁or ▁unusual ▁us ages , ▁and ▁other ▁language - related ▁topics . ▁The ▁inaug ural ▁column ▁was ▁published ▁on ▁February ▁ 1 8 , ▁ 1 9 7 9 ▁and ▁it ▁was ▁a ▁regular ▁popular ▁feature . ▁Many ▁of ▁the ▁columns ▁were ▁collected ▁in ▁books . ▁ ▁Column ist ▁and ▁journalist ▁William ▁Saf ire ▁was ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁frequent ▁contrib utors ▁from ▁the ▁in ception ▁of ▁the ▁column ▁until ▁Saf ire ' s ▁death ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 9 . ▁He ▁wrote ▁the ▁inaug ural ▁On ▁Language ▁column ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 9 . ▁starting ▁it ▁with ▁the ▁gre eting : ▁" How ▁do ▁you ▁do . ▁This ▁is ▁a ▁new ▁column ▁about ▁language ." ▁In ▁more ▁than ▁ 3 0 ▁years , ▁he ▁contributed ▁more ▁than ▁ 1 3 0 0 ▁install ments ▁to ▁the ▁column . ▁ ▁Saf ire ▁was ▁succeeded ▁by ▁Ben ▁Z immer , ▁who ▁wrote ▁the ▁column ▁until ▁its ▁final ▁edition ▁on ▁ ▁February ▁ 2 5 , ▁ 2 0 1 1 . ▁ ▁About ▁the ▁can cellation ▁of ▁the ▁column , ▁the ▁incoming ▁editor ▁of ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁Magazine ▁Hugo ▁Lind gren ▁explained ▁this ▁and ▁other ▁changes ▁to ▁the ▁magazine : ▁" It ▁is ▁mine ▁now . ▁I ' m ▁in ▁charge . ▁We ' re ▁going ▁to ▁be ▁doing ▁some ▁significant ▁red es ign ▁work , ▁and ▁have ▁a ▁new ish ▁magazine ▁by ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁January . ▁The ▁big ▁thing