You may remember, dear reader, that nine weeks ago, I wrote a piece covering various topics, rather than focussing on only one. Because I can, I shall do so again this week.

Language Of Its Time

I’m currently enjoying a novel set in Vietnam in the early 1950s, as the French colonial era was drawing to its close. One of the characters is referred to by two others as a “racist”. Of course, “racist” would be the correct term if the book were set in the present day, or even a couple of decades ago. However, in the ‘50s, such people were called “racialists”. If I know this, then surely a writer who was alive and kicking back then should know it.

In a book I read earlier this year, which was set during the First World War, a character said that she needed to “process” her grief. Such psycho-babble wasn’t used over a century ago. It jarred, most unpleasantly. If the author were not already dead, I’d write a stern letter of complaint.

I’m not suggesting that anyone who sets a novel in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries should use Shakespearean language for all of the dialog. But surely a little linguistic research, along with all of the historical research, isn’t beyond the whit of the average novelist?

Slogones?

I heard a discussion about political slogans on the radio earlier. It seems that those who intend to vote Labour at the next election prefer the Conservatives’ slogan. With beautiful symmetry, those who intend to vote Conservative seem to prefer Labour’s slogan. Is it, perhaps, time to scrap the slogan? None of them do any good anyway.

Horrendous Hyperbole

Australia’s cricketers won the World Cup on Sunday. There have since been mutterings about it being the best Australian side of all time. Whilst I can understand the pleasure that Australian fans take in their teams success, I can’t understand why anyone would give such a ludicrous idea brain room, never mind declaring it in public.

Although Pat Cummins and his merry men – and two cheats – were ultimately successful in there quest, they had a shocking start to the tournament. The same cannot be said for either of the sides led by Ricky Ponting, in 2003 and 2007. They didn’t lose a game in either tournament. No other country’s cricket team has played in two world cups without losing a match. So how can this bunch be the greatest?

I’m A Nonentity … Get me On Television

One of the curses of twenty-first century television, is the reality show. It is so ubiquitous because it is cheap to produce. To be fair, that is an important consideration for TV bosses in this era of huge numbers of channels and streaming services, and therefore masses of competition.

The extraordinary thing about this phenomenon, is that one broadcaster’s show becomes the topic of conversation for other broadcasters. Sometimes this is no real surprise. The current series of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here, for example, features the charismatic political maverick, Nigel Farage. Political journalists want to know whether Farage’s idea of introducing himself to a wider electorate will pay off.

However, the puzzling one, is the BBC’s continuing obsession with The Great British Bake Off. It was understandable when it first began. It was, after all, being shown on BBC television. However, in more recent years, it has been shown by rival broadcaster, Channel 4. This hasn’t stopped BBC presenters banging on about it, which begs the question, why give airtime to the opposition? Surely they want their viewers and listeners to concentrate on their output, and not to be lured away by their rivals?