Life
How can ‘sanction’ mean two opposing things?
Sir Keir Starmer said ‘he could “not imagine” the circumstances in which he would sanction a new referendum’ on Scottish…
Aussie life
US eyes Darwin Port prise. That, in case you missed it, was the hedline on the frunt page of last…
Language
Calling all lovers of our language – the semicolon is at risk of becoming extinct! Forget about the bilby or…
Should we be above cancelling the cancellers?
I’ve been mulling over Marco Rubio’s latest salvo in the Trump administration’s assault on the Censorship-Industrial Complex. The US Secretary…
Dear Mary: how can I point out a friend’s unsightly nose hair?
Q. I’m the author of 14 books, mostly historical fiction but a few children’s books, all published by a major…
Sportswashing? Bring it on…
If that was sportswashing, let’s have more of it. The Champions League final, when Paris Saint-Germain vaporised Inter Milan, was…
‘Rushed and under-loved and lacking conviction’: Hawksmoor Canary Wharf reviewed
Hawksmoor is the finest steak chain in London, because it lacks pretension and cares about blood. Years ago, at the…
Spectator Competition: Quirk related
In Comp. 3402 you were invited to submit a poem or passage about an unusual predilection. The quirks ranged from…
No, I’m not a British spy
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna The youngest of our six children, Giuseppe, nine, received the Eucharist for the first time on Sunday.…
Hell is a speed awareness course
The builder boyfriend sat nervously in front of my laptop as I logged him in to do his speed awareness…
The racing victory I’ve enjoyed the most
Allegedly the most effective rain dance in the world is that performed by Native American Hopi Indians. The biennial 16-day…
Aussie life
They call America the Land of the Free; it’s right there in the New York Times small print. But the…
Language
Speccie reader Alan writes to say he was having a conversation about Liberal party factions, and (strangely enough!) two expressions…
Dear Mary: How do you leave a party early?
Q. How can you leave a party early – e.g. at midnight rather than 4 a.m. – without everyone thinking…
A challenge for the electric car sceptics
I once heard of a couple who were teachers in their mid-fifties. Having pooled the proceeds from selling both their…
My sitcom-worthy walking holiday
I’ve just returned from a walking holiday in Northumberland with Caroline and my mother-in-law. I say ‘walking’ but that makes…
Spinoza, Epicurus and the question of ‘epikoros’
With surprise, I heard from a Jewish friend that a Hebrew term for a heretic is epikoros, apparently derived from…
