My dog has a perfect understanding of time. When it's time to get up, he barks; time to eat, he walks to his bowl and stares at me; time for walkies, he looks up at his lead and will not move from the spot; and time for a chat when I shave. I dare say other pets have similar temporal acuity. Harvey Gilbert, Haversham, Buckinghamshire.
GP's Memory Test Mistake
As a young GP, I remember assessing one patient's memory with the standard tests. It was only after he had left that I realised I had forgotten to check if he had recalled the address I had given. When we met again in a local supermarket, he reminded me of my mistake – and then put the boot in by reciting the address. Tim Gent, Norwich.
Patient's Sharp Retort
The first question of my sister's in-hospital memory test was 'What is your name?' The immediate and sharp retort was 'Can't you read!? It's on the board behind me!' As indeed it was. Anne Allgar, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Welsh Language Pride
I was shocked by the suggestion that 'Britain risks becoming a monolingual island', in a letter from leaders in translating, interpreting and linguistics. Haven't they ever been to Wales? A 'monolingual island'? Dim o gwbl! (No way!) Fiona Collins, Carrog, Sir Ddinbych.
A Word for Humid Heat
Re Polly Hudson's column (Do you need a word to describe how you feel in the heat? I nominate 'natsubate'), the term in my childhood in Cheshire was 'puthered', from which we have 'puthery' weather, meaning hot and humid. Michael Heaton, Warminster, Wiltshire.
