The sad truth about the human species
Sadly, it is a fact of life that people do need to use the toilet.
From a letter penned by a Mrs R Anderson to the Southport Visiter.
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, The Southport Visiter.
Thomas Docherty MP on Big Ben collapsing
The House of Commons authorities would be surprised if the clock tower fell into the Thames any time soon. It may well be raised with the Speaker on Monday. Given that Big Ben is situated over the Speaker’s apartments, he may have a view on it.
Thomas Docherty, a Labour MP on the Commons administration committee, according to this Sunday Times article.
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Politics, Quotes, Architecture, Big Ben, London, Parliament, Politics, Thomas Docherty.
What’s a 30% chance of rain? And why does it matter to doctors?
The news reader announces a 30% chance of rain tomorrow. Thirty per cent of what? Most people in Berlin think that it will rain tomorrow 30% of the time. Others believe that it will rain tomorrow in 30% of the region. In New York the majority believe that it will rain on 30% of the days for which the prediction was made.
This is the (edited) opening of BMJ 2012;344:e245, a fascinating paper about single event probabilities by Gigerenza and Galesic. It’s only short, quite fun, and may convince you to change your practice. Well worth a read.
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Health, Quotes, Academia, Medicine, Public Health.
Milton’s neologisms
Milton adored inventing words. When he couldn’t find the right term he just made one up: impassive, obtrusive, jubilant, loquacious, unconvincing, Satanic, persona, fragrance, beleaguered, sensuous, undesirable, disregard, damp, criticise, irresponsible, lovelorn, exhilarating, sectarian, unaccountable, incidental and cooking. All Milton’s. When it came to inventive wording, Milton actually invented the word wording.
Mark Forsyth, in The Etymologicon
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, John Milton, Mark Forsyth, The Etymologician.
Graham Norton on being mugged
In 1989, I was mugged, beaten and stabbed by a group of boys. To add insult to injury, not only did I lose half my blood but I lost my boyfriend too: he dumped me the next day, which wasn’t the most tactful piece of timing.
Graham Norton, in a Telegraph report about being burgled yesterday.
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Crime, Graham Norton, The Telegraph.
Quote of the day
Were the Occupy protests about economic protest and attempting to right wrongs? Or were they harmless, spontaneous gatherings because people are lonely and were in need of a bit of excitement in their cities?
Tyler Brûlé, in his latest Fast Lane column, attributes the Occupy movement to uninspiring architecture whilst imitating the Queen. I think he’s finally cracked.
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Architecture, Occupy movement, Tyler Brûlė.
Quote of the day
The problem faced by public health campaigns in the UK is the tendency for people to react to being told what to do.
Benjamin Daniels, Confessions of a GP
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Benjamin Daniels, Medicine, Public Health.
Quote of the day
The royals cook, and serve the guests. They do the washing-up. You think I’m joking, but I’m not. They put the gloves on and stick their hands in the sink.
Tony Blair, writing about Prince Philip’s traditional barbecues, in A Journey.
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Prince Philip, Royal Family, The Queen, Tony Blair.
Quote of the day
When you watch the movies, you root for the cowboys, but when you read the history, you root for the Indians.
Amy Waldman, The Submission
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Amy Waldman.
Quote of the day
Perhaps it’s simply the word ‘failure’ that needs addressing: let’s change the name of the diagnosis to ‘reduced cardiac success’ and see if that makes any difference.
Dr Tony Copperfield, Sick Notes
This post was filed under: Diary Style Notes, Quotes, Medicine, Tony Copperfield.