Language
What’s the word for a word that’s been used only once?
It is easy to speak a sentence never spoken before since the world came fresh from its mould. It’s not…
Sweaty Betty, Acne: the fashion for nasty brand names
On my way to a party in Ealing I saw a shop called Pan Rings. A mental image popped up…
How did BBC’s Late Night Line-Up get its name?
The title of the television review and discussion programme Late Night Line-Up is a curious one. I’d be interested if…
Word of the week: ‘prorogue’
It was most unlooked-for that a king should ally with Whig politicians to seek parliamentary reform, but that was what…
Is a cow always a cow?
I’ve noticed a tendency among townies like me to call all cattle cows (which they feel they must mention in…
Are our feelings towards politics apathy or inertia?
My husband, with a dependable appetite for chestnuts, says he would be the ideal person to start an Apathy party.…
Where did Boris Johnson’s ‘gloomsters’ come from?
When Boris Johnson hit out at ‘the doomsters and the gloomsters’, I was willing to believe that the word gloomster…
From moustache to extremist – the journey of ‘bigot’
How might an oath lend its name in England to a religious extremist and in Spain to a moustache? That…
Who really invented the word ‘posh’?
Two rules of grammar are certain: never split an infinitive and never end a sentence with a preposition. As for…
Watch out for ‘watch on’
In Casablanca, Mr and Mrs Leuchtag resolve to speak English to each other in preparation for emigration to America. Mr…
The barking world of ‘doggo lingo’
Doggy sounds childish. ‘How much is that doggie in the window?’ asks the popular song. (The song title used the…
The tangled roots of ‘artichoke’
My husband has been growling: ‘You cross-legged hartichoak.’ He tries it on obstructive pedestrians hypnotised by their mobile phones. He…
‘Bolection’ and how the language of architecture was moulded
A pleasant menagerie of words grazes in the field of architectural mouldings (the projecting or incised bands that serve useful…
A duck ducks and a swift is swift – so what about the lapwing?
Some birds seem inherently comical. I can’t help being amused by the duck taking its name from its habit of…
Why the OED says ‘coloured’ is offensive
‘The term coloured, is an outdated, offensive and revealing choice of words,’ tweeted Diane Abbott last week in response to Amber…
There’s a lot of interrogating going on – and not just by policemen
My husband sat in his usual chair, interrogating the contents of his whisky glass with his old, tired nose. In…
Names, like drink, go by fashion
‘Sounds like fun,’ said my husband, wearing a hat with the sign ‘Irony’ in its band. He had read a…
What lies behind John Bercow’s use of the word ‘colleagues’?
The parliamentary press gallery has in the past given a pair of silver shoe buckles to the Speaker as a…
Word of the week: ‘Granular’, a word used to suggest in-depth analysis
‘Just two sugars,’ said my husband as I passed him his tea. He is cutting down. I doubt he would…
Collins dictionary has got ‘gammon’ all wrong
In the annual dictionary wars to nominate words of the year, in the hope of attracting publicity, Collins has made…
To avoid knowing the distasteful origin of ‘scumbag’, look away now
President Vladimir Putin of Russia remarked of Sergei Skripal, whom his agents tried to kill, ‘He’s simply a scumbag.’ Scumbag…
Why ‘whiter than white’shouldn’t get you suspended
A detective superintendent has been placed on ‘restricted duties’ while the Independent Office for Police Conduct investigates a complaint that…
The origin and nature of teacakes
The Sunday Telegraph has been running a correspondence on the origin and nature of teacakes. One reader averred that in…
Why would you relish an opportunity?
The Sun gave a sad picture of British loneliness recently in a report about the national yearning to play a…
Has Boris brought ‘turd’ back into polite society?
I have never lost my admiration for Boris Johnson’s summary of British ambitions over Brexit as ‘having our cake and…
