ETAOIN SHRDLU!
STOP the presses: Richard Woods writes in to correct Paul Allen鈥檚 claim that typesetters used 鈥渕utt鈥� and 鈥渘ut鈥� as seemingly useless guard words when discussing 鈥渆m鈥� or 鈥渆n鈥� sized lengths (15 July). 鈥淭he need to standardise typefaces and sizes in hot metal printing led to a union between the American and British points systems. Thus a Pica Em (mutton, not mutt) was 12 points (one-sixth of an inch) and an en (nut) six points.鈥�
He says that while a shout of 鈥測ou need a couple of nuts in there, John鈥� might seem funny, getting it wrong meant that when the frame was tightened, the type would burst out into a horrendous alphabet soup, otherwise known as printers鈥� pie.
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Richard recounts a day in 1972 when the White Paper on the UK鈥檚 European Economic Community membership was published and London鈥檚 Evening Standard rushed it into print. The last of 21 pages was done at haste, tightened and 鈥渂urst up and out and down鈥�.
He says 鈥淚 spent the next 40 minutes with a compositor, a galley proof and more patience than you can imagine, reassembling the lines in correct order, under the evil eye of an impatient editor.鈥�
鈥淧ossibly on a one-way road, Howard Bobry reports a road sign in Nehalem, Oregon, 鈥渄irecting drivers to the 鈥榬ecycle centre and cemetery鈥�.鈥�
Turn left at the Soylent Green factory?鈥�
Off the rails
鈥淣O, NO, no!鈥� writes Glyn Hughes, 鈥渢he J. P. Joule pub in Manchester isn鈥檛 named after James Prescott Joule the physicist, it is named after James Prescott Joule the brewer, who happened to do a bit of physics in his spare time to reduce heating costs in the beer-making process鈥� (15 July).
Long may we toast these scientists who work for beer money, though 鈥� where would we be without the Student鈥檚 t-test, developed by statistician William Sealy Gosset to monitor the quality of Guinness?
鈥淧restwich has the delightfully named 鈥楻ailway and Naturalist鈥�,鈥� adds Glyn, 鈥渘amed after the pioneer of natural selection and sometime railway surveyor, Alfred Russel Wallace.鈥�
High proof
JOINING us at the table, Martin Chandler reports the existence of 鈥淭he John Wallis鈥� in Ashford, UK, named after the mathematician and sometime resident.
The inventor of the infinity symbol would no doubt appreciate the timeless pursuit of drinking in pubs. Meanwhile the ghost of Sir Isaac Newton still lingers in the Cambridge pub that bears his name (suggested by Alec Cawley), which undoubtedly stills plays host to regular lofty conjectures.
Bar magnet
ALSO chipping in to this round is Klaus 脝. Mogensen, who notes the existence of the 脴rsted 脴lbar (脴rsted Beer Bar) in Copenhagen.
鈥淚t is named for Hans Christian 脴rsted, the Danish physicist who discovered electromagnetism.鈥� Or perhaps it comes from the park across the road, says Klaus, which is likewise named after 脴rsted.
Westcountry wonders
AND Keith Waldon tells us of the font of ingenuity around his home in Gloucestershire. There is the Whittle Inn, 鈥渘amed after Frank Whittle, the inventor of the jet engine,鈥� while nearby is the Wheatstone Inn, named after inventor Charles Wheatstone, who developed 鈥渢he Wheatstone Bridge, the electric telegraph and the English concertina鈥�. Perhaps there鈥檚 something in the water?
Always room for one more
PREVIOUSLY, Steve Ingamells suggested that 鈥淚nfinite Buildings Solutions Ltd鈥� might be a suitable client to construct the Hilbert Hotel (15 July).
鈥淭his makes me wonder if this was the company responsible for a new housing development near Royston a few years ago, that was marketed as 鈥業nfinity鈥�, part of the trend for fancy non-descriptive names given to new housing developments,鈥� says Rupert Featherstone. 鈥淭his had the pleasing side effect of road signs in the local area directing you to Infinity, which you could in fact reach.鈥�
A few years later, work started on another development next to Infinity, 鈥渨hich I really hoped would be marketed as 鈥楢nd beyond鈥�, but sadly they settled for 鈥楢ffinity鈥� instead鈥�.
Worse than a lemon
ANOTHER entry into accidental foreign language retronyms: John Farnhill reports that Toyota may struggle to sell its MR2 model in France. Spoken aloud, 鈥渋t sounds like merdeux,鈥� that鈥檚 French for, uh, 鈥渘ot very good鈥�.
Feedback is reminded of the 1962 Chevy Nova鈥檚 supposed poor performance in Mexico, based on the idea that no va translates in Spanish as 鈥渨on鈥檛 go鈥�. Despite being wholly apocryphal, this cautionary tale still runs regularly in columns and on websites, proving that fanciful stories can get better mileage than a mid-sized family saloon.
Copping an eyeful
THE that doctors at Solihull Hospital, UK, discovered no fewer than 27 contact lenses in the eye of a 67-year-old woman undergoing routine cataract surgery. Surprisingly, the patient had not reported any discomfort.
The medics note the woman had 鈥渄eep set eyes, which might have contributed to the unusually large number of retained foreign bodies.鈥�
Eau no
鈥淪URELY the scentless perfume from Josie Maran (3 June) is the perfect gift for a female homeopath,鈥� writes Dave Hulme. We鈥檙e sure there are versions pour femme and pour homme, Dave. But how to tell which is which?