Posts Tagged: humour

Pshaw—I didn’t say that

One of this week’s Wordle (a popular online word gameanswers was PSHAW. It defeated everyone in my WhatsApp group, and my brother confessed he had never heard of it either (but my mother, an ex-English teacher and great reader was surprised he didn’t know). My confident explanation was that it is a “Jeeves word”. That […]
Career advice—be a petfluencer

My dear daughter, as your father it is time to take you aside and give you some important advice. I think that you should reassess your career choice in nursing and consider being a petfluencer. Nursing offers long, irregular work hours, including night shifts. It will disrupt your personal life and make it difficult to […]

Marque—is Jaguar reverting to type?11/10/2026
Jaguar releases the Type 01 This week the Jaguar car company released its new electric car, the Type 01. Jaguar has delivered on its controversial 2024 advertising campaign and Type 00 concept, which attracted widespread ridicule. One journalist suggested that “the marque, again, [is] putting its future on the line”. Famous for its sports cars… Read more: Marque—is Jaguar reverting to type?
Genericide & Entwisle Model of Brand Overshoot01/10/2026
A mate recently sent me a word he thought might interest me—genericide. There are quite a few everyday words that you might not know started life as trademarks: cellophane, aspirin, trampoline and escalator. I came across the same phenomenon in a previous post with cafetière for a coffee plunger. There is something quite ironic about… Read more: Genericide & Entwisle Model of Brand Overshoot
What’s for pudding?27/09/2026
As an English-born Australian I have the “lived experience” of navigating the differences between Australian English and British English. It is a fun place to play but sometimes the two just don’t reconcile. One of the most grating is how the English can call dessert “pudding”. I was brought up with Christmas puddings, suet puddings… Read more: What’s for pudding?

Pshaw—I didn’t say that