REPORT ON COMPETITION NO. 38
THE usual prizes were offered for a list of suggested familiar names for various famous London buildings and institutions. Some of the names suggested seemed so obvious that it was difficult to believe they were not already in general use. It is conceivable that in fact they already are, and that it is only in the Victorian seclusion of Gower Street that people do not speak (or did not speak) of hearing a lush contralto (or Sir Oswald Mosley) at Bert's (the Albert Hall), or refer to promenading in H.P. (Hyde Park). The entries were not on the whole distin- guished by inventiveness, nor was enough attention paid to euphony ; it was hard to believe that the tongue-twisting com- pounds devised by some competitors could ever pass into general usage. The Royal Academy and the Athenaeum proved the most fertile sources of inspiration ; " the Painties " was a logical addition to a language which has already admitted " movies " and " talkies," and " Alma Tademater " and " Artbreak House " were legitimate inventions ; for the Athenaeum " the Gaitery " was the most felicitous suggestion. A number of competitors renamed Bucking- ham Palace " Buck House," two plumped on " the Silent Service " for the Ministry of Information, " the Hub " was the most frequent-and the most logical-suggestion for Piccadilly Circus. No entry seemed to deserve the first prize. For the second, there was a tie between Douglas Hawson and Gerald Summers, to each of whom a book token for ios. 6d. is accordingly awarded.
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