Indecent Prepositions
Train travel; romanticised by writers from Paul Theroux to Graham Greene, hailed by many as the most elegant form of long distance travel, allowing one to escape from the foibles of the modern world. Or so we like to think…
Browsing: The Idler
On the Milieu of Overpriced Veg
Charlie Hill, author of The Space Between Things, reports on a vegetable-based scandal that has rocked the world of the organic eco-warrior. It is a sordid tale of deception, and one that will stay with you for many a moon…
Perils of the Party Season
Groan. It’s that time of year again, when we young, sprightly females are supposed to…
It’s Not Cricket
Armies of bleary-eyed people will be staggering into work in the next few weeks and…
A Political Musing
Just because something is done a certain way, and has been ever thus, doesn’t necessarily…
Café Goya
Roving explorer Harry Chapman ventures into the badlands of Pimlico to the outpost known as Café Goya; a colourful mise-en-scène of spivs and bankers, harlots and dowagers, thugs and officers, and a gentleman.
Words: Know Your Place
It’s that time again. The elegant Miss York gives us a lesson in words, their place, and the hilarious dangling clause. Please open your notebooks, have your pencils at the ready, and you there at the back, stop that whispering!
Signs of the Times
Turn left. Exit here. Place your bags in the bagging area. Do not leave your baggage unattended. Keep away from the platform. Mind the gap. Do we really need to be told all of this? Maddie doesn’t think so; must be a sign of the times…
Ding Dong!
“Hey there, sexy white girl.” Hand on heart, I promise that’s what I heard some…
The Wilting Lettuce of Modern Conversation
Eavesdropping is no fun anymore; nobody seems able to hold a decent conversation. Our elegant grammarian, Maddie York, explores the demise of the contemporary spoken word and discovers that, basically, it’s a mess.
The Bountiful Game
The beautiful game of two halves that can unite a country and divide a city. Played since medieval times where raucous villagers would punt a stuffed pig’s bladder across a field, is the game any more civilised today?
Dispatches from the Subject Line
Our elegant wordsmith, Maddie York, uncovers a grammatical scandal amidst the dark and foreboding jungles of an online bookshop that many of us know and trust. How many innocent inboxes has this philistinism tainted?