READERS’ WORDS

I’ve been resisting the temptation to write in to this column for some time, but having heard “centred around” used on the radio at least three times in the past week, I must pass comment. If you must use centre as a verb, then you can only centre “on” not “around”. The centre is in the middle and cannot be the circumference or perimeter. — David Gregory I enjoy your column. Regarding the apostrophe, I recently came across a business aimed at Lady’s and Baby’s, also one for Body’s and Sole’s. I am sure they were meant to be plural. Also jams made from strawberry’s, cherry’s and blueberry’s. Would it be rude and thoughtless to point out the error to the person? — Jenny Sterne I congratulate the reader who wrote to this page some time ago about the incorrect use of the word “tender”. South Africans are always speaking about tenders being awarded. Please spread the word that a tender cannot be awarded. A company is awarded a contract, for which it has tendered. A tender is only a bid, not the prize. And in an article in last week’s Business Times, the word “demure” was used instead of “demur”. It was probably just a spelling mistake, but demur means to say no. A demure person is someone who looks as if they will say no. — Bethuel Mngoma As the grandfather to a 19-year-old, I am regarded as functionally illiterate as far as computers are concerned. It therefore gives me great pleasure to occasionally push his buttons and pull his wires by making requests such as: “Please uplift the tea tray, outtake it to the stoep and downput it on the table. If, to the cups, you could input milk and then tea, it would be appreciated.” — Martin van Niekerk