READERS’ WORDS

Your column is a joy to one who appreciates good English properly used. However, I must take you to task for your dismissal as redundant the word “small” in the expression “a small minority”. This is a perfectly correct phrase as a minority can be small — say one out of 100 — or it can be substantive — say 49 out of 100, still a minority but not a small one. — Mark Robinson

A word I cannot find in my (older) dictionary is “artisanal”. I first saw the word in the Sunday Times in connection with men digging for alluvial diamonds in Zimbabwe. It seemed unnecessary when perhaps an expression such as workman-like would be less disgusting. In the medical profession, we sometimes come across “the patient came in comatosed”. A patient might complain of his “prostrate” trouble, but not his “artisanal”. — Ian Copley.

Here in Cape Town, parvenus who try to sound posh speak about having high tea at the Mount Nelson. What balderdash. There is no such thing. The highly expensive “high tea” at the Nellie is an afternoon tea. High tea was an evening meal with tea for the working classes, eaten between 5pm and 7pm. It consisted of a humble hot dish, lowly bread and cheap jam, eaten when arriving home from a hard day’s work. It was not for the leisure classes who sat around aimlessly chatting about how lovely the meringue cakes tasted. — Herman Lategan

One of my pet hates is “regards” when signing off an e-mail. “Regards” on its own is silly — it can mean either that the writer is well disposed or not well disposed (or is being cynical) towards the recipient. If writers can’t bring themselves to write “Kind regards”, then they should try something else, such as “Sincerely” or “Yours faithfully”. — Paul Schamberger