(Dujon) OK - deal. I read in today's paper that the actual audiences for Big Brother are remarkably small and probably mostly under 25 but the popular press and sometimes the serious press treats it as a serious and important programme. The participants are morons; a distillation of stupidity, and you wouldn't touch them with the proverbial 18-foot disinfected bargepole. Most of my friends have never seen any of it.

(Rosie) I'm under 25 and I've never seen any of it either. I know that doesn't advance the conversation much; I just haven't said anything for a while and I wanted to feel involoved.

(myself) Involoved?

(Knobbly) I'm sure that word can be rearranged to form the name of a Russian city. I'll come back on that one.

If you were devoloved you'd have a nice long palindrome.

[Knobbly] I think you wanted to feel both loved and involved and where therefore forced into coining a new portmanteau word. :)

[myself] "where"? Perhaps I meant "were here".

[myself] Yes, but with or without implied apostrophe?

[myself] Bugger. Whatre the chances of that happening?

(Projoy) 100%. It happened, if I've translated whatre correctly. I should have a lie-down.

[Projoy] I went to Portmanteau once. It was a pilgrimage of sorts, as I am a great fan of The Prisoner.

What I meant was... I saw a big posted advertising the arrival of a new Suzuki car showroom, it might have been somewhere in West Sussex yesterday. Unfortunately the chosen font left a very small gap between two of the words, so it looked like it said: NOWHERE SUZUKI. Cracking.

poster*

Why were marks subtracted from one of my last ever essays for poor use of english because I chose to spell "rôle" with a circumflex in its rightful place?

[Knobbly] Because the marker was a muppet?

Yeah! First snow of the season overnight. Not at my place - thankfully.

(Knobbly) Because the examiner's wife had had an affair with Arsène Wenger. I'd say the circumflex is optional as the word becomes more and more part of the English (note capital) language. It's certainly not wrong.

(Dujon) Do you ever get snow? Must be pretty rare, I'd have thought. Good thunderstorm here this evening with one very close strike (guess 150 yd), the type that produces a crack and a ripping sound.