Blog Update

My wife said I had to update my blog or people would stop reading it.

The Briefing has WordWatch and The Spectator; Dot Wordsworth - Mind Your Language. They set people straight on the meaning and contemporary (ab)use of words. Here's my feeble observation.

On my bookshelf is Foxe's Book of Martyrs. It's an account of the persecutions of Christians who died for their beliefs in the 16th century. Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer, for example, were all burnt to death by Queen Mary.

Has anyone noticed how martyr is used lately? Usually for describing someone who has willingly committed murder (and suicide) for their beliefs.

If there are any martyrs on the train home tonight I really hope they're the old fashioned type rather than the contemporary variety!