Column 8
As he read the Herald story (December 26) about the arrest of the Sydney to Hobart yacht, Peter Riley of Penrith was delighted by the tale."Who knew that you could arrest a boat, or that we have an Admiralty Marshal? Now that's a title to aspire to!" He was also reminded of the Gilbert & Sullivan song I Once Knew a Chap Who Discharged a Function.
Geoff Jackson's phonic/fonic question (C8) prompted many more questions but no answers. Ian Worsnip of Sanctuary Point thinks the answer may be "the same reason that abbreviation contains 12 letters, lisp has an 's' in it and monosyllabic isn't". Olga Pasfield of Queenscliff also queries "why abbreviation is such a long word", while Henry Brender of Double Bay wonders "what sadist put the ‘s’ in lisp"? Col Nicholson of Hawks Nest adds: "I don’t know about fonic/phonic but I do wonder why holistic isn’t spelt wholistic."
Further to Geoff Jackson’s pondering (C8), Murray Hutton of Mt Colah shared a list of his own ruminations. "Why isn’t lisp spelled 'lithp' and why is abbreviation such a long word? If a fly lost its wings would it be called a 'walk'? Why is the time of day when the traffic is slowest called the 'rush hour'? Why is the man who invests all your money called a 'broker', and why are they called 'apartments' when they are all stuck together?"
Jenny Archbold of Bellingen was perplexed by an article in a newspaper which said "pre-shucked oysters should be kept in the refrigerator. How do you pre-shuck an oyster"?
Brian Peck of Chatswood gives his enthusiastic support to Joy Cooksey's campaign for the annihilation of mosquitoes (C8). "Squash away! Only pregnant female mozzies seek blood."
Dismayed by the reports of so many surf drownings in the past few weeks, John Swanton of Coogee was moved to share his own surf survival tip, a consequence of his youthful near drowning in a rip at North Avalon. "Now I only ever swim in the surf wearing flippers. They have saved me more than once. As we again look at more surf drownings this year I would have thought that these aquatic accessories should be almost mandatory for anyone who is not a strong swimmer."
Several readers pointed out that the reason Granny doesn't receive faxes (C8) is because there is no fax number given. Granny will investigate further. Salutations to Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook for his determined - but unsuccessful - efforts at ending our fax drought.
Column8@smh.com.au