Your Letters
17:07 UK time, Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Ruaraidh (Wednesday's letter) 'auld lang syne' isn't Celtic, it's Scots (or Lalans), which is an Anglo Saxon language very close to English. I'm not Scottish meself, as you can probably tell by my accent, but in any event I'll get my oats.
John Knight, Beverley, UK
Re 'Auld lang syne', surely in these days of wikipedia, internet democracy and the wisdom of crowds, if most people think there should be a 'sake' in there, then it's clearly needed, and really should be added, regardless of what some elitist, so-called 'official' version says. Sure, it will annoy those pedantic 'people in the know' as Ruaraidh Gillies put it in Tuesday's letters, but so do a lot of commonly heard expressions (c.f. PIN number, USB bus etc.), and it's clearly unfair that the majority should be discomfited so that a few whiners can smirk smugly, as they point out the 'solecisms' of the masses. I'll get my emperor's new clothes.
Ray, Turku, Finland
Ruaraidh, I've always understood "auld lang syne" to mean literally "old long since", which would translate just as "old times". Wikipedia agrees with me and quotes "in the days of auld lang syne" being used as the equivalent of "once upon a time".
Liddlejo, London, UK
Surely "auld lang syne" translates as "old long sins"!
Emma Wilson
"It's said the average British man has had 13 sexual partners and women have had just seven," says Jeff Leach. That can only be true if the average British man has had at least six sexual partners who were foreign and/or male.David Richerby, Liverpool, UK
I hereby request that you cease and desist printing any more letters from my sister (Diane, Sutton, Tuesday letters) at least until I have had an equal quantity of letters printed. You are complicit in bringing sibling rivalry to a whole new level and the fact that I am younger, and always will be, is no longer sufficient to make up for the disparity in publications.
Jill B. Detroit, USA
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