1 double bed or 2 double beds or 2 twin beds

So I've managed to book my summer holiday:


Yes, that's "1 double bed or 2 double beds or 2 twin beds". And "City view and/or Courtyard view and/or Garden view".

I definitely get a clock radio, though.

My holiday was £999. Now it's 10,000

I haven't posted for a couple of days because I've been trying to find - and then book - a nice holiday for this summer. But I keep hitting obstacles. Here's one, from a holiday website that shall remain nameless:


So my holiday that was £999 (not true!) now costs 10,000 (currency unknown). I don't think I'll be booking that one.

Photo special: 'NO LOCALS'

Many places in the UK are unwelcoming to strangers and outsiders, and I've been to my fair share of them. However, before this weekend, I'd never seen anything like this:



Yes, the signs says "NO LOCALS". It adds: "Any locals found playing on our machines will be ask to leave immediately!!" Red capitals and multiple exclamation marks, no less.

Spotted in Caister Holiday Park (near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk). Thanks to Paul for taking the photo for me.

Word of the day: staycation (and stoliday)

I'm finding that sticking BBC1 Breakfast on in the mornings is a good way to discover new words (new to me, at least). Last week's new word was 'gastrosexual'; today I heard 'staycation' for the first time.

Unfortunately I had to leave for work before the staycation piece came on, but Googling the word this morning I found out that a staycation is (somewhat unsurprisingly, being a portmanteau of 'stay' and 'vacation') a vacation where you stay at home.

However, as the word 'vacation' is "chiefly North American" (Concise OED), I suppose that 'staycation' is also chiefly North American. The British English equivalent would be stay + holiday = stoliday. Or would that be a holiday taken by a calm, dependable person?

"Going anywhere exciting this year?"
"No, I'm getting too old for all that. I'm taking a stoliday in Stalybridge."