Language

Amol Rajan is right to change his ways on ‘aitch’

20 April 2024 9:00 am

My husband thought it brave and manly of the BBC’s Amol Rajan to resolve publicly to change his pronunciation of…

We ought to banish more words

13 April 2024 9:00 am

Why do people say: ‘You might very well think that; I couldn’t possibly comment’? Are they using it as they…

When is a Lord not a Lord?

6 April 2024 9:00 am

The Financial Times seeks applicants for the Sir Samuel Brittan fellowship. Announcing this, the paper refers to him as Sir…

How I ran away to Italy

2 March 2024 9:00 am

A quarter of a century ago I somehow managed to get out of Paris where I had haunted a cheap…

How do you say Southwell?

24 February 2024 9:00 am

The handmade suit I’ll never wear

3 February 2024 9:00 am

Someone somewhere must surely have calculated that Bangkok has more doctors and tailors per capita than anywhere on Earth. These…

What’s in a place name?

27 January 2024 9:00 am

The wonder of Jon Pertwee and his frilly shirt

6 January 2024 9:00 am

When a friend asked if I wanted anything for Christmas I took a deep breath and replied: ‘Well, maybe I…

The appeal of apricity

25 November 2023 9:00 am

Is orthogonal nonsensical?

18 November 2023 9:00 am

How useful is precarity?

11 November 2023 9:00 am

Is this where world war three starts?

4 November 2023 9:00 am

  Daugavpils   You can tell quite a bit about a place by the number of national flags on display.…