755-1: Feedback, notes and comments

Gone forth Readers mentioned that the story about the never-ending task of painting has been attached to other bridges, notably the Golden Gate Bridge and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Since both were built many years after the Forth Bridge, it is possible that local knowledge and pride provoked a transfer of location, rather than independent creation.

Andrew Haynes responded to my question about how long it will take for the cliché about eternally painting the Forth Bridge to die: "A survey of other popular clichés suggests it may take a very long time. We still talk about sending people to Coventry, even though it is nearly 350 years since the English Civil War, when Royalists captured in Birmingham were sent to the Parliamentarian stronghold of Coventry. Other outdated place-related clichés that remain in popular use include carrying coals to Newcastle and shipshape and Bristol fashion. And dozens of other clichés have survived for centuries even though users often no longer understand their literal meanings: hoist by one's own petard, beating about the bush, Hobson's choice, loose cannon, and beyond the pale."

Blue murder An accidental phrase in my piece last week resulted in some criticism from Canadians. I'd written, "This idiom is largely restricted to Commonwealth countries. North Americans prefer to cry bloody murder." It was north that roused them to complain, quite rightly — since Canada is a Commonwealth country my second sentence contradicted the first.