Out of his mind: We noted a tension in American ideas about money in a leading article on Monday.

Arbitrary rules govern what you can leave out of headlines.

News, as we all know, is about people.

Two sentences published this week illustrate the use and abuse of the overused phrase "when it comes to ...".

The debasement of the word "hero" is sad, not to say unpleasant. Any citizen who upholds the law is a "have-a-go hero".

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.

The foundations of formality are shifting.

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."