Q. I am working on becoming a member of the Chipping Norton set. Should I be pronouncing the excellent open-air swimming pool as lee-doh or lie-doh?
— P.W., by email
A. You might as well pronounce it correctly — lee-doh — but which Chipping Norton set are you aiming to join? The set made up of Cameron, Brooks and Clarkson (who fund-raises for the Lido) exists mainly in the mind of journalists. Then there is the real Chipping Norton set whose members are mainly earthy, arty and left-wing. They pronounce it lee-doh as well. The Lido is charming but you will need to do more than pronounce its name correctly to gain social access to these busy people.
Q. A friend who visits London infrequently invited me to join him for lunch at a West End restaurant where he had booked a table. As I, a 50-year-old woman, sat down, he handed me a packet of photographs taken at his 70th birthday, which I attended. As I looked at one of myself he sighed and said, ‘It’s hard to believe that was only two years ago because I am afraid that you and I have both deteriorated quite markedly since then.’ I felt too deflated to respond, but in retrospect, I wanted to know more, because the assumption that I would agree I had deteriorated worries me. It certainly wasn’t the restaurant lighting — we were sitting in the window in natural daylight.
— D.W., London SW3
A. The English language is well-furnished with quips and clichés to fit every occasion. If ever there was a moment when ‘speak for yourself’ would have fitted the bill, it was this one. At least this would have prompted an explanation for the caustic comment.
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