Showing 1 - 10 of 28
Not even the penguins were spared
Roger Crutchley, Published on 28/12/2025
» Well, we've just about slithered our way through the Year of the Snake. Suffice to say, 2025 wasn't much fun. At least the previous year we had the "Happy Hippo" which kept us vaguely amused in a daft sort of way.
The last word on weird book titles
Roger Crutchley, Published on 14/12/2025
» Being somewhat old-fashioned I still love browsing in bookshops. It provides a brief escape to a completely different world, both relaxing and therapeutic. Alas it is a pleasure future generations are unlikely to experience as these days bookshops are something of an endangered species.
Words of the year are bit of a worry
Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/12/2025
» More words or phrases of the year have been drifting in courtesy of the major dictionaries and I'm afraid most of them are not particularly encouraging. In fact some are a disturbing indication of the direction in which the English language and society are heading.
Probably the saga to end all sagas
Roger Crutchley, Published on 08/06/2025
» The latest nationwide crackdown on motorcyclists not wearing crash helmets kicked off on June 1. Whether it will prove more effective than countless previous campaigns remains to be seen. But don't hold your breath.
If in doubt, just have a cup of tea
Roger Crutchley, Published on 25/05/2025
» You may recall last week's Battle of Britain item in PostScript featured two English ladies' who came across a German pilot who had crashed in a field. Their first reaction was to offer him a cup of tea, an indication of just how "having a cuppa" is ingrained in British culture. Admittedly that was 85 years ago but even these days most Brits wouldn't turn down a "cuppa".
Those pesky pigeons and a plastic owl
Roger Crutchley, Published on 21/07/2024
» Fond as I am of our feathered friends I admit to getting in a bit of a flap over the rapidly increasing number of pigeons (nok pilab) that have been descending on our residence in recent times. Some people call pigeons "rats with wings", others more generously "doves without the PR". I must confess to be leaning towards the first of those opinions.
Asterisk more than just a footnote
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/06/2024
» In the ladies golf major tournament last weekend one of the top American amateurs was 15-year-old Asterisk Talley. I don't recall ever coming across Asterisk as a name before. Apparently her mother is Greek and the word asterisk in Greek means "little star". So it would seem quite an acceptable name for a baby.
Telling fortunes 'a nice little earner'
Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/05/2024
» A recent Thai news story concerned a man nabbed in an online fortune-telling scam. He would inform customers suffering from misfortune that their situation would dramatically improve if for a small fee he made a few prayers on his "direct line" to the deities in heaven.
Those acronyms can be bit of a pain
Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/05/2024
» One of my pet peeves with newspapers around the globe has always been the proliferation of acronyms, especially in headlines. Apart from the fact that no one really has the faintest idea what they stand for there's something about them that's just plain ugly.
Taste of inflation from a reliable sauce
Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/12/2023
» I am not sure where Bangkok stands in the list of most expensive cities released by the Economist this week. Singapore and Zurich top the table but judging from recent visits to the supermarket, Bangkok must be racing up the inflation charts.