The question of how to end a business letter, or indeed any letter, has always troubled me. It appears that the structures and strictures of business correspondence seem to be dissolving. No longer is a “Dear Mr” invariably followed by “Yours sincerely”, or a “Dear Sir” by “Yours faithfully”. “Hi …
The ruelle is the bit of the bedroom between the bed and the wall. Or it can simply be the side of the bed next to the wall, which is the side I prefer. It derives, since you ask, from the French for lane or small rue, as that is …
The only reason T.S. Eliot insisted on his middle initial was that he was morbidly aware of what his name would have spelled backwards without it. Auden (whose H was idiopathic) wrote a palindrome on the subject: T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad. I’d assign it …
The word elaphine means of or pertaining to a stag. Therefore, stag nights, stag parties, stag dos, stag drinks, stag weekends and all such hideousnesses could be rebranded elaphine nights, elaphine parties, elaphine dos, elaphine drinks and elaphine weekends. I feel this would somehow make them better. At least it …
I have just received an email alerting me to a sale at Sweaty Betty, which for the uninitiated is a shop selling fashionable sports and fitness clothes for men and women – in some cases so beautifully designed that customers are inspired to take up certain sports simply for the …
Ah, the perils of being a precocious child. At the tender age of seven, armed with what I clearly believed was an air of intellectual maturity (or maybe just a growth spurt?), I tackled Jane Austen’s Emma. Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a happily ever after. The helpful librarian, …
Almost everybody knows that it is wrong to use apostrophes before an ‘s’ which denotes a plural rather than a possessive. So it is “breakfasts” and “tomatoes”, not “breakfast’s” (which I saw on a sign yesterday) or “tomato’s”. But what about plurals of words made up of initial letters, like …
The name “Bluetooth” might conjure up images of glowing blue lights, but its true origin story takes us back to a Viking king with a rather unusual nickname. Harald I of Denmark, who reigned in the 10th century, earned the moniker “Bluetooth” for his role in uniting the warring provinces …
The word “distressed” might seem straightforward, but a closer look reveals a rich and surprising history. Financial applications of “distressed” are particularly relevant today. We often hear about “distressed companies” and “distressed assets” during economic downturns. Interestingly, these terms were used as early as the 19th century! An 1866 Times …
Years ago, , a friend of mine asked me what the pejorative of a Greek was. I asked him what he meant and he said that the French were Frogs, the Italians Wops, the Germans Krauts, the Spanish Dagos and he wanted to know what the Greeks were. We couldn’t …
