SEVERAL readers have written to us adding their own examples of what Colum Clarke called âapposite adjacentsâ at the top of the pages of dictionaries (7 October). Among our favourites are two that Jonathan Ormond found in his Readerâs Digest Reverse Dictionary (1989 edition). âArmpit Artâ, he suggests, sounds like a plausible future winner of the Turner Prize or some other award for contemporary art, while his favourite pairing is âsomething I would never want to hear in any religious serviceâ: a âKazoo Kyrie Eleisonâ.
Other readers have expanded the field to include encyclopedias. Glyn Williams remembers the spine of volume IV of an encyclopedia he once saw â he thinks it might have been Arthur Meeâs Childrenâs Encyclopedia â which announced that it was âFun to Hugâ. And John Shortridge recalls a volume of the first edition of The Australian Encyclopedia that was labelled âMarsupials to Parliamentâ, which seems to us a worthy aim.
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THE exploration of the language error known as an âeggcornâ â in which a word is confused with another one that sounds similar but still makes sense at some level (26 August, p 52) â reminded Trevor Magnusson of a colleague a few years back. An earnest Christian, he had obviously been exposed to various bromides such as âIn times of trial, we must rest on the pillars of our faithâ and âEven Christ himself when facing crucifixion could not see beyond the portals of the tombâ.
When he related these gems to others, Magnusson tells us, what came out were two entirely logical eggcorns: âIn times of trial, we must rest on the pillows of our faithâ and âEven Christ himself when facing crucifixion could not see beyond the portholes of the tombâ.
âFrom the press office of The Lancet: âPrime Minister of Norway to give lecture on child survival in London next week.â We hadnât realised child mortality in London was particularly high. Or that Norway caredâ
This in turn reminded Feedback of a relative in her fifties who, like a recent letter-writer to The Guardian newspaper in London, remembers in all innocence mistaking the words âOur father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,â that begin the classic version of the Lordâs Prayer, as âOur father, a chart in heaven, Harold be thy name.â
THEREâS something about unusual units of measurements that brings out the fussy precision in people. Take the piece we ran on 29 April exposing the amount of dog faeces deposited in the New Forest in the UK each year â âthe same weight as 240 double-decker busesâ. This comparison does at least give a fairly good impression of the quantities involved, but unfortunately the same cannot be said about the quote in The Hastings Observer that Jackie Field has forwarded to us. It comes from the manager of a crane that caused alarm among council safety officials when it was placed on the seaside resortâs pier overnight in preparation for repair work the following day: ââThe crane weighs almost 4 tonnes,â he said. âThe same weight as lots of people.'â
FINALLY, the emergency instructions for passengers on First Great Western trains, which serve the south and west of England, seem unusually solicitous. Ian Haggo spotted this in one of their carriages: âStrike cover of emergency release with fist (located above external door)â. Haggo is impressed that a fist is provided in case you forget to bring your own with you.
