22 Upfield, Croydon Words Sir: The light may have been
"particularly good," but not good enough, it Must seem, to disperse Mr Gale's tautological fog (December 7). It is Possible that your diarist may have consumed the type of drink he normally takes at lunchtime on other occasions than lunchtime; but he was here dealing with the chronology of the drink and not its contents. He would surely, therefore, accept (at least he jolly well ought to) that on Sunday lunchtime the °IllY possible drink, chronology-wise (to introduce some more ruined words that Will surely send Gale scampering back tO the quayside in gibbering despair) is a lUnchtime drink. And warmly appreciative though your readers may be for 1caving the chronology of the thing put yeYond all reasonable doubt, I question Whether they would feel the information valuable enough to have been given twice in fifteen words.
, Even if Mr Gale, through not having peen down to the quayside at that hour of a Sunday before (a jumbo-sized conjecture if ever there was one) had lacked specific knowledge of what was cling on, he ought surely to have noted Iroul personal observation that it was itinchtime and that the drink had to be a lunchtime drink. Unless, of course, is ,Wasn't lunchtime at all when he went to Irie quayside? Admittedly that would Put a startlingly different complexion on the chronology of the affair, but it would also affect the consequent adjec,tval description of the drink. And if he couldn't or hadn't worked that out," then he shouldn't have tumbled off the quayside into the tautological briny. To !l'e fair, we all know the trouble with unichtime drinks (especially those taken at lunchtime) but one is left wondering whether Dom David really finished the job he set his hand to all those years ago.
Your obedient servant (and there's a sublime chunk of tautology for you).
R. 0. Harrison Editor, Huddersfield Daily Examiner, RaMsden Street, Huddersfield
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