Arcane spelling of lead used by William Safire in one of his farewell columns (How to Read a Column) on January 24, 2005. In the tongue-in-cheek essay, Safire issues 12 rules for column readers. The second is Never look for the story in the lede. The following rule, Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms', contains the description "Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.
Lead contains the following meanings (among others):
- The introductory portion of a news story.
- An important, usually prominently displayed news story.
The Safire essay is deliberately pompous, and uses several cromulent or otherwise spurious words, such as hifalutin, swaydo, cui bono, and
Last updated: May 18, 2005.
