Cornish pasting
Malcolm Bell, the chief executive of VisitCornwall, complained in an online interview about ‘emmets’ – an emmet being a derogatory word for an outsider, derived from a local dialect word for ‘ants’. Some more insults in Cornish dialect: Bimper, a peeping Tom; Dobeck, a fool; Gocki, stupid; Piggy-whidden, a weakling; Squallyass, a crybaby; Janjansy, a fibber; Timdoodle, a fool; Tuss, an offensive person.
Team building
Ten players in Qatar’s World Cup squad were born outside the country. Only 12% of Qatar’s population are native Qataris. Where are the rest of its citizens from?
India 22%
Bangladesh 13%
Nepal 13%
Egypt 9%
Philippines 7%
Pakistan 5%
Sri Lanka 4%
Sudan 1.9%
Syria 1.7%
Jordan 1.6%
Dry spell
How much alcohol is (officially) consumed in Qatar? The average Qatari consumes 0.96 litres of alcohol per year, giving it the 151st consumption of any country. Top is the Cook Islands on 12.97 litres, while the UK ranks 24th with 9.8 litres. Some countries where it might be harder to get a beer (estimated alcohol consumption in 2019):
Litres per capita estimate
Egypt 0.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in