Your letters
18:11 UK time, Thursday, 24 May 2007
We certainly did not enjoy , because it was so negative. Obviously, he did not live through that era. We were born during the war, and we remember the 50s as a happy time, when people looked forward to a brighter future. We were not starving even though we were working class, and we were well-educated in state schools, which had good discipline. There was rationing, but we were never short of food, and we well remember when chocolate ceased to be rationed. Our money went a long way then, and we enjoyed going to the cinema, and theatre. There was very little traffic so it was safer on the streets, and we were able to roam around without fear. We did not go abroad for our holidays, but enjoyed staying in guest houses at English seaside resorts. The Festival of Britain was amazing, and the Battersea Fun Fair, which Andrew didn't mention, was exciting to visit.
James & Anne Moirrison, Coventry, England
Re - "Marrying the genius of Noel Edmonds with a fantastic original format will make this the must-see TV show of the autumn." Ignoring the obvious oxymoron about Mr Edmonds, can a series based on an existing show be called "original"?
Tom Hartland, Derby, UK
I assume that by means of petition is a publicity stunt. Surely they’re not so dim that they really believe dictionaries are democratically created reference books which only list what the majority of people think a word means. Even if 99 per cent of the population voted ‘against’ the current definition, the dictionary would still have to record it so long as anyone uses (or has used) it in that way. I note they also don’t say what they want the new definition to say.
MJ Simpson, Leicester, UK
Re the Me and my Font debate: Typographically (but not grammatically) speaking the title of the piece should be "Me and my typeface". A typeface only becomes a font when a point size is applied to it. So 10-point Helvetica is a different font to 11-point Helvetica, despite sharing the same typeface. Therefore, to be entitled "Me and my font" each contributor would need to specify the point size of said typeface.
Kaz, London
Re "Sex-Swap"? Surely not. You don't find two people and swap their "bits" now do you. "Sex change" would clearly be the better description. Sorry to harp on but it's been bothering me. (Oh and my colleague says she's so keen for chocolate she'd happily swap sex for it.)
Naomi, Sussex
I have found a way to improve the number of times I answer the DMQ correctly. Simply read The Metro on the way into work, the same poll is generally reported on the same day and you can arrive at the DMQ page fully armed.
MCK, Birmingham
Pedantry watch #287. Annya (Your letters, Wednesday) dares question PM on poking fun at the variance in the reporting of the fire at the Cutty Sark. But, regarding those visitor numbers, "more than 15 million" could occasionally be less than "'more than 16 million". Obviously.
Stig, London, UK
Maisy, you are absolutely right that the Keynes in Milton Keynes is mispronounced, but not for the reason you think. John Maynard Keynes and John Milton have absolutely nothing to do with the naming of the town. Milton Keynes actually gets its name from the village of Milton Keynes, a corruption of Middleton de Keynes, itself named after the medieval Cahaines family.
David, Manchester
The 
