26 JANUARY 1951, Page 5

New bad habits ought to be checked if possible before

they become settled bad habits, and I quite agree with someone who vigorously damns the current, foolish and increasing use of the word " head- ache " in the sense of problem—e.g.," His worst headache will be the filling of the vacancy at the base of the scrum." A headache and the cause of a headache are two totally different things, and no one except a deliberate murderer and mutilator of the English language would try to make them one.

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