Back soon

After five years of daily Almanac posting, I'm taking a few weeks to put my energy into a few things that need doing, including my nearly finished novel. I might pop in from time to time, but for about a month I hope you'll excuse me from regular posting. In the meantime, you might like to use the menu bar at the top of this page for plenty more at the Almanac. Thanks, dear reader.

Shit. Let's call the whole thing off

I say 'excreta', and you say 'excrement'. But Life Matters today says 'excretement' -- twice in as many minutes, so it must be right, especially as this is on the national broadcaster which features only the elite of Australian journalists.

ABC's Jed Clampett School of English

Yesterday the RN News informed us that there's doubt about how Ariel Sharon's state of health will affect his leadership "ahead of the March elections".

Ahead of? Ahead of, in what way -- as in a horse and cart? A head of steam? Is this from the ABC's Jed Clampett School of English (the one that brings you "set to" as in "the government is set to enact legislation")? Well, doggies! What ever happened to the word "before"? Not American enough and too Australian for Auntie?

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