Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

What a Week: A Gaelic pantomime and another US drama

Actors Rachel Kennedy, Fergus Munro, Evie Waddell and Claire Frances MacNeil star in the Gaelic pantomime. Image: Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s.
Actors Rachel Kennedy, Fergus Munro, Evie Waddell and Claire Frances MacNeil star in the Gaelic pantomime. Image: Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s.

The Meaning of Liff, penned by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd in 1983, was “a dictionary of things there should be words for”.

It took place names that, in their opinion, did not get enough use and repurposed them for feelings and objects that didn’t already have a word to describe them.

Aboyne was reassigned as a verb meaning: “To beat an expert at a game of skill by playing so appallingly that none of his clever tactics or strategies are of any use to him.”

A snowy-looking Aboyne, one of the place names that was given a new definition in The Meaning of Liff dictionary.

Cromarty became “the brittle sludge which clings to the top of ketchup bottles” while Banff described “that kind of facial expression which is impossible to achieve except when having a passport photograph taken”.

It was a silly idea but I think of it every time I see one of those passport photo booths.

Recently P&J columnist Yvie Burnett shared a Doric word I hadn’t heard before – cadis or caddis, the fluffy dusty bits that gather in the corners of the carpet.

Hoovering has become a lot more competitive in our house ever since we learned this word, with one of us heckling from the sidelines: “You’ve missed a bit of caddis! My turn!”

Culture

Our lives are enriched by words and so when we let dialects and even entire languages fall by the wayside we lose more than a mere sequence of letters.

We lose our stories, our identity and perhaps the most useful tools we have when it comes to navigating our way through life.

That’s why, when P&J journalist Chloe Irvine expressed her dismay that TV drama Shetland had not made more of the islands’ dialect I shared her hope that actress Ashley Jenson will adopt it in her new role.

Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez in the BBC murder mystery drama Shetland.

Granite Harbour aired on Thursday night with some viewers saying they couldn’t wait for the next episode and others criticising the lack of Aberdonian accents (The P&J, Dec 2).

The usual excuse is that accents can alienate the wider population and shows might have to be subtitled.

Well big deal, I turn subtitles on most of the time anyway because I can’t make out what anyone is saying!

I used to worry it was just me, but then I read Michael Caine’s autobiography in which he despairs over actors mumbling all the time and wonders what they teach them at acting school these days.

Ashley Jensen will be the new lead in TV series Shetland.

I’m proud to work for a newspaper that doesn’t just cover such stories as the Gaelic touring panto inspired by Pinocchio (The P&J, Nov 29), but celebrates our precious dialects and languages by devoting column inches to them with the likes of Angus Macdonald, Robbie Shepherd and The Flying Pigs.

Politics

One person who has wielded words to great effect in the Commons is Ian Blackford, who could be relied up at PMQs to land a punch when Labour managed little more than a hair-ruffling.

His Greatest Hits in the Chamber include refusing to sit down, leading a walkout, removal by the Speaker and a football joke about the possibility of Scotland being dragged out of the Euros against its wishes.

Technically, Lindsay Hoyle didn’t get the chance to remove Blackford because he had already left, in a similar way that some say he jumped before he was pushed when he resigned this week.

Ian Blackford takes the government to task during Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons earlier this year.

Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn is tipped to take over as the SNP’s leader at Westminster.

What we know about him is that he’s 34, a Dundee United supporter and a fan of The Sopranos, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.

The question is, would he exacerbate tensions within the party, but more importantly, would he by any chance have a ticket going spare to see The Boss at Murrayfield next May because he’ll be too busy to use it?

Political reporters hoping for a scoop may want to monitor Gumtree in the coming days.

Bruce Springsteen has a number of UK tour dates, including Edinburgh. Image: AP Photo/Elise Amendola.

Being “Born in the USA” is one of the eligibility requirements for a presidential candidate but beyond that just about anyone can have a pop at it.

Ye, the former Kardashian spouse formerly known as Kanye West, said he intends to run for president and that he has asked Donald Trump to be his running mate.

Yesterday Elon Musk suspended the rapper’s Twitter account after he praised Hitler and posted what appeared to be a swastika entwined in the Star of David. Words fail me.

Conversation