Odds and sods

Square Robin

Time on one’s hands

I recently came across a flurry of letters to the editor about how to pronounce certain names, particularly Scottish ones, such as Menzies, Colquhoun, Farquharson etc. I googled to listen to them being pronounced, which was quite good fun. (It was a slow morning.) Then I thought I’d check out McG. Well bugger me if I didn’t discover I’ve been mispronouncing my own surname for the last 40 years.

I don’t know what to do with this information.

Joy

A Canadian girlfriend tells me there’s an Inuit word, nuannarpoc, that means “I am full of delirious joy in being alive”. Don’t you love that. There’s also illisiverupa, which means to put something away in a safe place and be unable to find it again.

Both massively useful.

Round Robin

One year, we sent out the following Christmas greetings:

“Dear friends, how lovely to hear your news. We’re so happy you both had promotions and that your children are excelling in everything they touch.
Things are not quite so good with us: our home went up in smoke earlier in the year and although we managed to rescue The Wee Granny, we were left with only two pairs of knickers and a shaving brush between us.
Mr McG then lost his job, but luckily Z found work long-distance truck-driving between Romania and Bulgaria, so we’re almost managing to make ends meet.
Daughter L disappeared for a few months, which caused some anxiety, but she finally let us know she was OK and married to an Italian waiter she’d met in rehab. Their twins are expected in a few weeks, so that’s good.
Oh, and you’ll probably remember Nobby our beloved dog? Sadly, Mr McG ran him over with the lawnmower.
We hope you have a very jolly Christmas. We will certainly try.

One person took it seriously but, alas, offered no €€€