AND ANOTHER THING...

Ivan Gregoriy (MetroTalk, Tue) asks about degendering people’s titles, such as actresses now being actors. Are advocates revealing their own assessment that a woman being a headmistress or heroine is less than a man? Mike, Surrey

Richard (MetroTalk, Tue) asks why one-way tickets are often just as costly as returns. The most common answer I’ve seen seems to be that when buying a single, you are buying for a specific journey, which is why you may end up paying double if you book for a return for a specific time – you’re paying for particular journeys. But when you book an open return, as they cannot guarantee what day/time you will be taking the return journey, or that you will even use the train to get back, they only seem to charge you for the original journey.

It’s odd. I suppose it’s a question of whether you want to guarantee a seat, though. Matthew, Birmingham

To Jane (MetroTalk, Tue), ‘gotten’ is not an Americanism. It was English and taken to the US by the Pilgrim Fathers. It fell out of usage here but is a valid word when used correctly. Clare, Liverpool

To Pat (MetroTalk, Tue), what is a London accent? When I lived there I heard a new and interesting one in practically every postcode. That’s one of the great things about our capital! Greg, Gillingham

Well done to Amy Nicholson on converting the scrap Mercedes van into a camper (Metro, Tue). But to pay £11,000 for a van ‘from the scrapheap’, Amy has been tucked up good and proper. John, Essex