According to Viv Mackenzie of Port Hacking, the “proof of the pudding” request made by Tim Glover (C8) has opened a can or worms, or, more fittingly, a bottle: “What about that overproof rum in your traditional Christmas pudding? Surely, then the proof would be in the pudding?” Alan Bell of Bradbury was thinking the same thing and suspects his Scottish grandmother “definitely had the ‘proof’ in it as she was quite heavy-handed with the pudding’s whisky content. I’m sure I should have been 18 to have a slice.”
Philip Arber of Mosman notes that “A recent article in the Herald said that tennis was originally known as sphairstike. How do you pronounce sphairistike? My spellchecker (C8) doesn’t even recognise the word.”
“Regarding ESL (C8) or NESB students, the Department of Education has renamed them EAL/D,” says Kerry Kyriacou of Strathfield. “Can anyone guess the full titles without using Google?
Answer: Non-English Speaking Background and English as an Additional Language or Dialect. To justify their salary, the DoE loves renaming common and easily understood terms .”
While Stephanie Edwards of Roseville has always employed the “clingstones (C8) before Christmas, freestones after” method, Andrew Buchanan of Brisbane (Qld) reckons peach-slingers are stonewalling us: “Alas the freestone peach situation is more dire than you may have imagined. Growers have been abandoning freestone varieties as, allegedly, consumers don’t like the fact that sometimes there can be browning of the flesh around the pit. I say that’s total rubbish and that we consumers must demand the return of the freestone. How else can we make delicious Italian-style stuffed peaches?”
Keeping things fruity, Rad Lewis of Moss Vale has “definitely noticed over the last few years, that mango seeds have been getting much smaller. This has to be due to genetic modification, which we do not hear much about any more. Could I suggest that lawn seed be looked at, with the aim of producing grass which only grows to a uniform one inch? Imagine a world where lawn mowing is no longer required! This would be one of the greatest leaps forward for humanity!”
“Have you read the original Daphne Du Maurier short story, The Birds?” enquires Robert Hosking of Paddington. “Considerably different ending to Hitchcock’s version. Mark my words, in twenty years time there will be no humans left in Sydney: the brush turkeys (C8) will have taken over completely!”
Column8@smh.com.au
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