This is from a news story published on Monday: "Downton Abbey [is] facing criticism for substituting dramatic credibility for soap-style pacing and plot twists." My thanks to Andrew Horsman, who drew attention to that.

In last Saturday's restaurant review, John Walsh was inspired to an ecstatic gastro-lyricism by the high-class English fare at Rules in Covent Garden.

We are happy to make clear that the reference to 3,600 illegal Traveller sites in our leading article “Time to calm the rhetoric and forge a compromise” (1 September) in fact reflected the number of individual illegal caravans.

The foundations of formality are shifting.

Our article “Chelsea hit by Essien blow on first day back" (9 July 2011) suggested that the Chelsea’s then Medical Director, Dr Bryan English, had been sacked by the club because his medical staff failed correctly to diagnose injuries to key players. We now accept that these allegations were untrue and apologise to Dr English for the distress and embarrassment caused to him. In fact, Dr English says, which we accept, that the new Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas, simply wanted a new team of support staff around him; it had nothing to with Dr English’s competence.

It is an odd quirk of the human brain to be unclear or inconsistent about the direction in which time is moving.

The introductory blurb to a fashion feature published on Monday began like this: "A triumvirate of designers shone in Paris last week – and these ladies all had very different ideas." I know this is pure pedantry, and Latin pedantry at that, but you really can't have a triumvirate of women (or even "ladies").

Aviation is a cheerful cooked-up Latin word formed from avis, meaning "bird". Astonishingly, the Shorter Oxford dates "aviation" back to 1887, when it presumably referred to gliders, or the mere idea of trying to fly like a bird.

"British law firm steps up fight against Europe's last dictator," said a headline on a news story on Tuesday. Next to the headline was a picture, carrying the following caption: "The Belarus President, Alexander Lukashenko, left, is described as Europe's last dictator."

In our article, 'The scone of destiny' (11 September 2011) we incorrectly stated that Tilly Mint Bakery in Truro had closed. It has not closed and continues in business as usual . We apologize for this error.

Everybody gets it wrong about the Second World War. David Cameron and Tony Blair, for instance, are both on record as implying the United States was a belligerent in 1940.

Last month, after a picture caption had called an infantry fighting vehicle a tank, this column ventured on an explanation of what is and is not a tank. We described what characteristics define a tank, and ended with the words: "Otherwise call it an armoured vehicle, and you won't be wrong."

Pouring oil on troubled waters is one of the most popular demonstration displays at the Museum of Ancient Metaphoric Curiosities, almost as popular with the kiddies as the daily demonstrations of battening down the hatches and changing horses in mid-stream.

In our article “Man cleared of 'sex in his sleep' rape charge” (5 July 2011) we stated that Stephen Lee Davies had been acquitted of rape after arguing that he had been suffering from sexsomnia. We now understand that Mr Davies’s defence was that he did not commit the alleged offence. Although the court heard evidence that Mr Davies may have been suffering from sexsomnia there was no finding that he had been at the time of the alleged offence.