At this time of year in Colorado the crime of puffing is widespread. It is so cold that in the morning people often leave the car engine running to warm it up while they finish getting ready indoors. This is called puffing. It leads to dozens of cars being stolen. Characteristically, the police penalise victims, fining the puffers.
A piece of Colorado law-enforcement publicity declared: ‘Don’t step away from your running vehicle even for a second.’ This plays on the cliché employed by police who stop suspects in cars: ‘Step away from the vehicle.’ In Britain we might expect ‘car’, although the constabulary is given to polysyllables.
Last month the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would ‘step back as “senior” members of the royal family’. That did not stop newspapers describing it as a ‘bombshell decision to step down’ (the Sun) or a ‘plot to step down’ (the Mirror).
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