British emerald green

Letter 13:

From http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6995535.ece

January 20, 2010

Sir, Gareth Tarr (letter, Jan 19) writes about the origin of the term “Silver Arrows”, supposedly the result of the Mercedes F1 team removing all paint before a Grand Prix in 1934 to meet the weight regulations. The story is almost certainly apocryphal: there is no contemporary source, and it first appeared in the autobiography of a former team manager, Alfred Neubauer, in 1958. Further, the name “Silver Arrows” had been used in a radio broadcast as early as 1932 in reference to a German racing car.

British racing green was adopted for the Gordon Bennett Cup because the usual British colours of red, white and blue had already been taken; green was chosen out of respect for the Irish hosts of the 1902 event. This decision had the approbation of the manufacturer of the British entrant, Napier, as it had used the colour previously (albeit olive green). The first instances of British racing green were, therefore, emerald green, rather than the darker hue of later years.

Gender neutrality

Letter 06:

From http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article759305.ece


December 21, 2006

Personable

Sir, In seeking a name for his androgynous snowman, Robert Vincent is not the only one to struggle with gender-neutral language (letter, Dec 20). Some years ago in Auckland there was a lawyer by the name of Guy Chapman. In order to avoid offending his colleagues, it was suggested he might be known instead as Person Personperson.

This blog

I am a legal author and editor by profession, but also the occasional writer of letters to the editor. I actually set this blog up for the fairly uninspiring reason that it seemed necessary in order to comment on a friend's blog, but having done so I will post a few of my published letters and blogs. I have no ambition for it other than a place for my own convenience, rather like the Clive Davis' old Spectator blog which was only read by him and the occasional staff member. The differences are that I have no intention or pretention otherwise, and I don't get paid for my efforts! (This is harsh on Clive, but not unfair ...)