12 JUNE 2004, Page 79

Q. The successful social `exocet' — 'not in the street,

thank you' (The Spectator, 17 April) — reminds me of my grandfather (then a peer) replying to a personal remark made by a yob at some sort of civil disturbance in the 1930s: don't think you know who you're speaking to.' I have since used this in numerous circumstances with exemplary success.

E.D.G., Lostwithiel A. Thank you to a valued correspondent for submitting what would indeed be a useful all-purpose remark.