Adrian Bell of Davistown writes with the right of reply: “Well, Don Bain (C8) makes a slanderous claim! But I won’t claim millions or seek a duel. I’m sure I never said those words of the inimitable George Manojlovic. ‘Moronic’ is never a word I use to describe anyone – except Donald Trump and David Littleproud. George is never trivial. C8 is an item of wonder and substance. I have always enjoyed and admired George’s clever submissions. In fact, I lived in Mangerton for six months in 2015 and regret I didn’t know of George in those days. It’s a source of pride I can pronounce his surname correctly and would have loved to have met him. I do wonder what prompted Don’s claim? Not guilty as charged yer ’onner! Cheers Don and George.”
Not guilty is right, just. Adrian’s exact words (in 2018) were, “the content of Column 8, George Manojlovic’s private journal, has become not only trivial but moronic.” So he’s not really calling George moronic, if anything, it’s Granny in the line of fire. However, Adrian does go on to call Marshall Johnson “ignorant” in the same paragraph.
“Supervising my L plater son on an early Saturday morning airport run resulted in four breath tests (one each way, driver and supervisor both get tested) a record for us,” claims Chik Foo of Burwood.
“Back when we had three children living at home, I decided to find all the unmatching socks (C8),” says Christine Stewart of Glebe. “Got out all our socks and paired them up. There were 35 missing. Is it birds or the washing machine gobbling them up?”
“Idiomatic or idiotic?” asks Richard Murnane of Hornsby. “Years ago, in a cross-language book on idioms, I read that the French equivalent of the English phrase ‘it’s nothing to write home about’ was ‘it’s nothing to whip a cat over’. Google Translate, however, offers ‘Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard’ (‘it doesn’t break three legs of a duck’). A French Canadian friend has never heard the phrase and can’t think of a Québécois equivalent; can any Continentals confirm?” We’ve run this by our French connection but will give first dibs to the demographic.
“Monday’s Target Time rejected BRAINRAGE as the solution for the daily target despite it perfectly encapsulating an emotion quite often felt when attempting this task,” laments Paul Taylor of Winston Hills.
Column8@smh.com.au
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