Max Oppenheimer, Jr., retired professor of languages, has compiled 110 of his entertaining Arizona newspaper columns into this “treasure trove.” Oppenheimer’s short essays describe elements of what he calls the rich and complex loom of language. “Is That What It Means?” is good reading for all lovers of the written word, the colorful “palette of language.” It is a work of often amusing and always-brief, fast-moving insights that can be enjoyed singly, or pages at a time.