Etymology
What is ‘misogynoir’?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been troubled by two verbal peculiarities in a week. The Duchess corrected a…
Why do we diminish ‘compendious’?
My husband has been telling me, at some length, about the Gamages Christmas catalogue that fired his childhood imagination and…
Do you ‘damp down’ or ‘tamp down’?
‘Dampfschifffahrt!’ shouted my husband as though it were funny. I had been saying how strange it was that explosive gas…
What does Meghan mean by ‘intentional living’?
‘What are your intentions towards my daughter?’ said my husband, screwing an imaginary monocle into his eye. We had been…
Geoffrey Madan and the joy of ‘unusual articles’
In 1924 Geoffrey Madan retired, aged 29, and devoted himself to books. ‘A genius for friendship, selfless devotion to progressive…
RFK Jr and the curious birth of ‘brainchild’
‘No, RFK didn’t have a tapeworm eating his brain,’ declared my husband in the rare tone he adopts when he…
Does Rachel Reeves know what ‘kickstart’ means?
To ‘kickstart economic growth’ is the first (‘number one’) of Labour’s five ‘missions’ to rebuild Britain. That is what the…
‘Loved ones’ are everywhere at this time of year
‘My heart will melt in your mouth,’ said my husband gallantly, unwrapping some leeks from a copy of the Sun…
My guide to liberals
Last Saturday I was making my way across the road from St Pancras to King’s Cross when I noticed a…
Does Keir Starmer know what a ‘drag anchor’ does?
The language of sailing ships is as treacherous as a lee shore. Words seldom mean what they suggest or are…
Is ‘Chinatown’ offensive?
I’ve heard people using back-to-back housing to mean terraces separated by back yards. But strictly, back-to-back houses are built against…
Does ‘tummy’ turn your stomach?
‘How old does he think you are?’ asked my husband when I told him my GP had asked me if…
Do you ‘cock a snook’ – or snoot?
‘This is interesting, darling,’ my husband called out from beside his whisky while I was doing the washing-up. The interesting…
The meaning of ‘moot’? It’s debatable
In Florence there was a stone on which Dante sat in the evenings, pondering and talking to acquaintances. One asked…
