ELLSIO

To the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds tonight - appropriately accompanied by one of my daughters - to see an excellent production of King Lear. And to note, with regret, that English is no longer blessed with the direct equivalent of Spain's most frequent insult/term of endearment - whoreson. Or hijo de puta.

And to be reminded that uncle used to be nuncle. Just as orange used to be norange. Or naranja in Spanish. And something very similar in Arabic and Persian -  نارنج and نارنگ respectively.

Surely the power of the internet can be used to bring back selected words that have fallen out of use.

As I may have previously mentioned, my favourite would be sennight, meaning week. Just as fortnight means two weeks. In Britain at least. In the USA, I believe, not only sennight but also fortnight has fallen by the wayside.

But that's quite enough of that. Unless anyone wants to put forward a candidate or two. Couth, for example.