Pele was good, but he wasn’t a sub lime footballer

Take a deep breath of crisp new year air, and adopt an expression of stern regard. Let’s start 2023 with a list of things we don’t want to see written in next 12 months.

There is a lot of this in The Courier, so I criticise my fellow writers: why are we using “whilst”, when “while” is shorter and more commonly used in speech? Same goes for amidst and amid. Shorter is always better. It also saves The Courier’s supply of ink.

Sprightly, to my puzzlement, is beginning to just mean old. It means lively, full of energy, no matter the age.

Data is the plural of datum. You’d say “data show” not “data shows” in the same way you’d say “results show” not “results shows”. The phrase is hot on the heels, not hot off the heels. It is a reference to pursuit, not something you have kicked backwards.

Spitting image, not splitting image. Quebec is not Cubeck. A caddie carries golf clubs, a caddy contains tea. You might produce something with a flourish and declare “voila”, it means “see there” in French. Not viola, that’s a large fiddle.

Historic means memorable, a thing that made a mark on history. Historical is something that happened in the past. They are not interchangeable.

Your football team might have a plum Scottish Cup draw. Not a plumb draw. You’d play an accordion, not accordian. The dog is an Alsatian, not Alsation.

Grin and bare it and you will be arrested. The phrase is grin and bear it. It is something to endure. Issues and problems are not the same. A problem is solved, an issue debated.

Perhaps it was a slip of the finger, but I think the reporter who wrote of Pele’s “sub lime” football skills was a lemon. It is as bad as describing an opera singer as a pre-Madonna.

It is root cause, not route cause. Rooted to the spot, not routed to the spot. At root and at heart are not the same: the former is a beginning, the latter a person’s real nature.

The phrase is paragon of virtue, not paragraph of virtue (although that sounds good).

Gaining entry with difficulty is to prise open, not prize open. Shouting and bawling, not balling. You lie in wait, not lie in wake.

“He leaves with his reputation in tact”. A diplomat could do, but it is more likely his reputation is intact.

Lastly, Ann Twerp might be an unfortunately named person. The Belgian city is Antwerp.