READERS’ WORDS

RE The Pedant Class of Nov 30: I was looking for cushion inners and although I could see many displayed my request was met with incomprehension. I pointed to what I wanted and the assistant cried: “Oh, you mean SCATTERS!” This new word has completely obliterated the word “cushion” in the commercial world. — Jane McArthur Tim Couzens (Readers’ Words, Dec 14) may like “Wet blanket in the mud,” which a dear lady used to say. — Rae Dalton A friend of Norwegian origin was a very brave woman who ventured where “angles feared to thread”. A vicious circle morphed into a “wicked circus” and a needle in a haystack and a bee in a bonnet became a “needle in a bonnet” because that is where needles belonged. — Philip My

burgh A client from a German company once told me to proof-read the house magazine with a “fine toothbrush”. — David Hilton

Barber E-mail your observations to degroots@sundaytimes.co.za On Twitter @deGrootS1