The Mirror Crack'd

I've just read an article including the phrase 'step foot' instead of 'set foot' - another insidious Americanism creeping into British English no doubt. I don't know why this grates so much with me because I understand that linguistic usage evolves over time, but every time I encounter it I flinch. It's the same with 'undoubtably', starting every answer with 'so' and using 'is is', as in 'the thing is, is that he doesn't listen'. Grrr! I hope I'm not being a pendant in this respect - I'm not knowledgeable enough for that - but I know what I like and what I don't. I like many new usages and find some Americanisms refreshingly pithy and succinct. I'm also no grammarian (grammar wasn't 'big' in the 'sixties, even in grammar schools) so I couldn't have told you that 'set' is a transitive verb, I had to look it up - or Google it, in modern parlance.  It's estimated that William Sh...

Pope Francis has died aged 88. As tributes to the late pontiff pour in from world leaders, his legacy is being appraised, with the consensus seeming to be that he was a humble and compassionate pope, not radical in his outlook but deeply committed to the welfare of the marginalised and oppressed and concerned about world peace and the climate emergency. His death coincides with news that Christian church attendance by Gen Z youngsters (13-28 year-olds), predominantly male, has increased noticeably in the UK and globally in all denominations but particularly in the Catholic communion. While,  prima facie, this may seem good news for the church and wider community, boding well for the ethical development of a troubled generation, there is a concern that all may not be as it seems. It has been suggested in some quarters that the reason Catholicism is the go-to Christian congregation for boys and young men is its perceived social conservatism. Social media platforms peddling so-called ...

Nothing like diplomacy It's a while since I've done one of my little S&G pieces but several items of news have caught my eye lately where synergies arise in unexpected ways - or is it just me? The first of these is the controversy over the Chinese government's attempts to get planning permission for a new mega-embassy at the old Royal Mint behind the Tower of London. Objections have been raised on grounds of cyber-security, covert operations and protest management. Following the ongoing British Steel crisis I think the answer is blindingly obvious. Offer the Chinese an alternative site in Scunthorpe. Quaking An item in The Los Angeles Times piqued my interest. Apparently, plans have been announced for a restoration of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul described, ominously, as "sweeping". The former Byzantine church, then mosque, then museum and now, thanks to President Erdoğan, a mosque once more, has stood firm for fifteen hundred years. Suddenly, there's panic a...

When it comes to government incompetence I suppose we should at least be grateful we're not living in the United States. However, news that Parliament is to be recalled tomorrow (Saturday 12 April) to debate the possible nationalisation (requisitioning?) of the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe will have gone down like the proverbial bucket of cold sick amongst parliamentarians. They had just got away for their Easter break, expecting to enjoy a relaxing holiday until 22 April, only to be dragged back prematurely. If they travelled abroad they face a scramble to get back to Blighty for the 11am sitting tomorrow or risk the ire of the Whips' office. And it's not as if this issue hasn't been flagged up over the weeks since Chinese owners, Jingye, refused the government's offer of half a billion quid of taxpayers' money to bail (or is that bale?) out the foundering facility. Obviously (and especially after Donald Trump's tariff war against them) the Chinese wou...

The Corn Laws used to be taught in English schools - I assume they still are - but evidently not in the United States if Donald Trump's tariffs announcement yesterday is anything to go by. This was apparently due to be made on the first of the month but, obviously fearing it might be taken for an April Fool's hoax, was pushed back a day. After all, even Donald Trump wouldn't be so stupid as to let a bad joke spook the markets and wreck the US economy. Would he? So, heralding 2nd April as 'Liberation Day' (for some reason I had thought, in the US context, that was 4th July, but what would I know) Trump announced a raft of import duties for all the world's exporters to the US, ranging from 10-50%.  These tariffs are billed as 'reciprocal' but, in Trumpian newspeak, that appears to have a different definition to the one offered by Webster's dictionary. In most cases, 'unilateral' would seem a more accurate description for what Trump envisages. F...

Sir Keir Starmer held a meeting in Downing Street recently to discuss the Netflix series, Adolescence,  with it's co-writer, Jack Thorne. The four-part series, highlighting the effect of 'toxic masculinity' and misogyny targeted at young boys on social media, aired recently and has caused a sensation, sparking a national debate. This is not the first time, though, that television drama has stirred the nation's conscience or created a succès de scandale . In 1966, a BBC Wednesday Play, Cathy Come Home , highlighted the issue of homelessness. Last year an ITV mini-series, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, forced politicians to address, and redress, the issue of postmasters and -mistresses wrongly accused of embezzlement due to a Fujitsu computer error, covered up for decades. Of course, popular culture has long exerted a social impact and created moral and political debate. Think of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist , Charles Kingsley's  The Water-Babies , or Thomas Hardy...