Getting the nod

SIR – Bruce Denness (Letters, July 3) notes that in some countries saying “yes” in answer to a request does not necessarily imply that one will act.

To add to the confusion, I have found that the characteristic south Indian head wobble – which would indicate a negative response anywhere else in the world – there means “yes”.

I have yet to discover what passes for a “no”. James Mcnie

Rafford, Moray

SIR – On arriving in this country, my non English mother was greeted by “Now, then …”

Having asked for a translation, she decided that such a stupid language was not worth learning. She spent the next 50 years, deliberately I think, mispronouncing the language and refusing to speak grammatically.

Dr J Margaret Foot

Langham, Rutland