Lucy Vickery presents this week’s competition
In Competition No. 2673 you were invited to submit a pompous leader on a trivial subject. Among the topics that unleashed your inner Thunderer were the abuse of the ‘eight items or less’ lane in supermarkets (to say nothing of the lamentable confusion between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’) and the plague of rubber bands visited on us by the Post Office. There is space only to congratulate Brian Murdoch, who gets £30. His fellow winners get £25 each.
Most will pass in silence over the 40th anniversary next year of a blow struck — and still felt — at the very heart of the culture of the nation. Yet one may still hear, from the august counters of Fortnum and Mason all the way down to the ubiquitous emporia of Tesco et hoc genus omne, references not to ‘one penny’, but — it pains us to utter the phrase — ‘one pence’.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in