Cliche
The real problem with ChatGPT is that it can never make a joke
When Andy Stanton commands the AI program to tell him a story about a blue whale with a tiny penis, the result, as it unfolds, drives him a bit insane
Keir Starmer’s essay is a cliché-ridden disaster
Many years ago, a tabloid newspaper played an unkind prank on the author of a very long and much talked-about…
Concept
‘It was nothing special, but it was a pub,’ said my husband, looking up from his copy of Bar magazine…
A foolish proposal
It’s nonsense that women should be given one day in every four years to propose marriage
Big ask
‘That’s unnecessarily crude,’ said my husband, turning momentarily from the television and improving the shining minute by setting the whisky…
A bad novel on the way to a good one
Philip Hensher on the tangled history of To Kill a Mockingbird’s much-anticipated ‘sequel’
On the cusp
‘A stalker who dressed a pillow “mannequin” in his ex’s nurse’s uniform, then sent her a picture, has been told…
Robust
‘Heart of Oak are our ships, Jolly Tars are our men,’ shouted my husband unconvincingly. He has taken to doing…
Existential threat
In the endless game of word association that governs vocabulary, the current favourite as a partner of existential is threat.…
My top ten most fatuous phrases
An apology. A few weeks back, in my blog, I promised a regular series called ‘Fatuous Phrase of the Week’.…
Flip
What kind of scientists do school inspectors not need to be? ‘Inspectors don’t need to be rocket scientists.’ For what…
