Mind your language
Peak
Near Victoria Station in London they began to build a tower-block advertised as ‘The Peak’. I expected it to resemble…
Mind your language: Box set
There is no chance whatsoever of box set being replaced by the more correct form boxed set. So stop seething…
Box set
There is no chance whatsoever of box set being replaced by the more correct form boxed set. So stop seething…
Mind Your Language: Waybread
‘Did you say “fabric”?’ asked my husband when I was telling him about words that have just been added to…
Waybread
‘Did you say “fabric”?’ asked my husband when I was telling him about words that have just been added to…
The words The Spectator gave the world
When the much missed Frank Johnson (1943–2006), once editor of The Spectator, wrote in 1980 that ‘the peculiar need for…
Chattering classes
When the much missed Frank Johnson (1943–2006), once editor of The Spectator, wrote in 1980 that ‘the peculiar need for…
Is your quotation secretly Nazi?
I couldn’t help laughing when I found that an Australian senator, Cory Bernardi, had deleted all his tweets from Twitter,…
Quotations
I couldn’t help laughing when I found that an Australian senator, Cory Bernardi, had deleted all his tweets from Twitter,…
Why 'safe' is Dot Wordsworth's word of the year
‘Makes me feel sick,’ said my husband, referring not to the third mince pie of the morning (in Advent, supposedly…
Why ‘safe’ is Dot Wordsworth’s word of the year
‘Makes me feel sick,’ said my husband, referring not to the third mince pie of the morning (in Advent, supposedly…
Mind your language . . . on commit
My husband struck out with his stick at an advertisement in the street that said: ‘Commit to winter.’ He doesn’t…
Mind your language . . . on commit
My husband struck out with his stick at an advertisement in the street that said: ‘Commit to winter.’ He doesn’t…
The rise of the man bun, the Mancan and man boobs
‘Ha, ha, ha,’ said my husband, as though he had learnt to laugh by reading Twitter. ‘Now they’ve got falsies.’ He…
The rise of the man bun, the Mancan and man boobs
‘Ha, ha, ha,’ said my husband, as though he had learnt to laugh by reading Twitter. ‘Now they’ve got falsies.’ He…
‘Clean eating’ is a great word of the year… for 1906
The word of the year, according to Collins, the dictionary people, is binge-watch. It means to watch DVDs consecutively or,…
‘Clean eating’ is a great word of the year… for 1906
The word of the year, according to Collins, the dictionary people, is binge-watch. It means to watch DVDs consecutively or,…
Is ‘female’ still an insult?
‘More deadly than the male,’ said my husband archly. He was knowingly quoting Kipling, though I don’t know why he…
Is ‘female’ still an insult?
‘More deadly than the male,’ said my husband archly. He was knowingly quoting Kipling, though I don’t know why he…
How we ended up ‘cisgender’
‘That’s not how you spell “system”,’ said my husband triumphantly, pointing with his whisky glass at a placard inveighing against…
How we ended up ‘cisgender’
‘That’s not how you spell “system”,’ said my husband triumphantly, pointing with his whisky glass at a placard inveighing against…
Fulsome
It’s funny that two much misused words end in —some: fulsome and noisome. Noisome is the less often used at…
Should we just stop using ‘fulsome’?
It’s funny that two much misused words end in —some: fulsome and noisome. Noisome is the less often used at…
Whipsmart: a new cliché that’s beginning to smart
A friend of my husband’s asked me to explain why the usually impeccable critic Francine Stock had recently used the…
Whipsmart: a new cliché that’s beginning to smart
A friend of my husband’s asked me to explain why the usually impeccable critic Francine Stock had recently used the…
