The Daily Mail today is reporting that "One in every nine people in Britain was born overseas' and 'More than one in every eight people in England was born abroad' Shock, horror! The complaint is...
How should I set about finding dates and place of birth, marriage, death, war service of my grandfather. I can get a copy of my mother's birth certificate (pretty sure I've seen one showing his name,...
South Cambridgeshire, flooded field by river, white bird, could only be an egret because of unmistakeable movement, stillness followed by stalking action in the shallow water,shape, recognised as like...
At what intervals and at what times do you feed your adult dog? Is there a recommended time and interval? I seem to be giving mine their later feed later and later, by some inexorable process, which...
Is AB 1) Slow in removing the snowman and holly from its title, now Christmas is over and decorations are down, or 2) up to the minute, now we are building snowmen again, the holly being symbolic of...
An exclamation of despair, frustration or anger is " For crying out loud!". It's understood, but what does it ,literally. mean? What does 'for' indicate? Is it 'for' as 'instead' so the speaker is...
What's the origin of 'a fair crack of the whip' as in 'He never got a fair crack of the whip' meaning an equal and fair opportunity to do or be something?
When William of Orange was invited to invade, he landed his forces at Torbay, in the West Country. Why? What was wrong with landing them closer to London?
Where was the Near East ? What happened to the term?We have the Middle East and the Far East now but no Near East.Pretty sure that, decades ago,the Near East included Palestine, but Israel now seems...
"Rob Peter to pay Paul" Who were Paul and Peter? Or were these names chosen as representative common names, like Jack ('Jack's as good as his master' etc )
I wish to clear sycamores that have sprung up in an old neglected garden over years.Cutting them down is going to leave living stumps and I'll end up with a sycamore coppice in place of sycamore...
I think I've seen a goshawk, here on the farm in South Cambridgeshire. How much larger do they look than a sparrow hawk? Also, in the last few days, I've found the feathers, and little else remaining,...
Why are car number plates pixillated out on TV programmes and in the press ? It can't be to stop cloning, can it, because anyone could copy the number of a car anywhere ? Is there some reason in law...
The inheritance tax on a house is payable in instalments.If the executors sell the house 1) is all the tax outstanding payable ( as I rather assume)? 2) When? Is it payable instantly on the date of...
Americans say "In the tank" in e.g " The media are in the tank for Obama" meaning "wholly committed to and uncritical of". We might say "In the bag". A current expression is " to tank" or "tanked" to...
Why do we say " for good" to mean "permanently". We often mean the opposite of "good" in any other sense e.g : " My friend has gone for good" .tells the hearer that we regret the passing,. not that we...
