When I began covering the San Francisco criminal courts, I did not speak the native tongue.

In the early days, I would ask any living thing inside the Hall of Justice what he or she thought might make for a newspaper story.

One day, defense lawyer Daro Inouye, bless him, said he had something solid. What he told me went along these lines: “Louie is hearing a 995 in a case where a guy is facing a 187 with special circ. And there is a Faretta motion on in 26.”

Probably, I nodded and said thanks. But I did not understand a word he said. Months of absorbing criminal justice lingo would pass before I‘d be able to understand that message in real time.

Likewise, we in the newsroom use our own lingo (nut, jump, reefer — no, not that reefer — rail, gutter, skybox) to describe elements of a newspaper that appear in every edition.

Then there are distinctions we think are important that readers may or may not care about. Do readers know what we consider to be the boundary between, say, a letter and an editorial? An advertisement and a calendar listing? For some readers, it doesn’t matter. They saw it in the newspaper, and there is no need to analyze it further.

For us, one key distinction is between columns and news articles. Columns often are first-person essays, in which the rules of reporting — seeking balancing perspectives, going only on independently verifiable facts and statements, setting personal views aside — get a rest as we follow our muse.

Larger newspapers can afford the luxury of employing columnists who do nothing but write columns. Famous ones include Mike Royko in Chicago and Jimmy Breslin in New York. Contemporary ones include Jon Carroll in San Francisco and Ellen Goodman in Boston.

At smaller papers, columnists often lead double lives. Kevin Courtney’s main job is to cover the city of Napa for the Register, though many readers follow his Sunday Napa Journal column, where he might opine on the Oxbow or the electric bass. Diane Montañez’ main tasks at the Register include handling letters to the editor, obituaries, calendars, wedding announcements, missile defense and intergalactic diplomacy. But she also writes the Glad You Asked column every Thursday.

On Monday, The Register will launch a new column from another wearer of multiple hats. Business reporter Jennifer Huffman offers Surrendering to Motherhood, her take on tending to the family while taking on the rest of the world.

Huffman’s column will appear in section C every other Monday, alternating with another rookie columnist, Michelle Choat. Earlier this year, Choat launched a column in the run-up, that is, walk-up to her participation in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

The walk is over, but the columns are not. Choat, whose main task is to design news pages for the Register and the Weekly Calistogan (as well as a little missile defense), is sticking around with Girl on the Go, every other Monday.