Daytime English

Being a pensioner I have lots of time to enjoy daytime TV which, besides making your brain leak out your ears, offers some lovely eye-watering use of English. F'rinstance...

From Under The Hammer, a daily look a house buying: "We have a handy local shop nearby."

From Grand Designs, a daily look at house building: "It's a great example of greenification."

From one of the may copdocs: "...the never-ending war against criminals and law-breakers..."

Much nicer was a phrase used by an American lady in a news report: "I was breath-taken."

And I was taken by a phrase coined by a cabaret singer during a documentary, Benidorm Unpacked, in which he bemoaned the total lack of job security with the warning: "That's why your name's in chalk - not lights!"

And while not strictly relevant to this blog, I have to add that it was heartwarming to see this guy, who had lost a leg and an arm aged 10 when he was run over by a train. His remaining leg's still broken and in a caliper. Sorry for himself? Not a bit of it. He's married to a charming and exquisite Swedish blonde who is clearly devoted to him. They have a couple of lovely kids and, with work being short in Spain, are heading off to, of all places, Bulgaria in search of work.

Cool or what?