Letters: Olympic messages

 

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National honours are to be bestowed on Olympians, we hear. Why does our nation honour sports people much more readily than it does scientists? It seems that if you win an Olympic medal you get a gong; I have never heard of anybody obtaining a national honour for getting a paper in Nature.

So, Mr Cameron, set up a special list for scientists, and let us recognise that science is at least as important to the United Kingdom as is sport. Lord Coe: meet Lord Higgs.

A A Chabot

Birmingham

My seven-year-old came back this evening from a wonderful day at the Paralympics with his Grandpa. He leapt into my arms wide-eyed and his first words were, “Dad! I DO like Coca-Cola!”. Thanks Locog, another generation inspired.

Jonathan Allen

Great Missenden, Hertfordshire

The very bold assertion that “businesses that have introduced flexible working during the Olympic period have ... increased productivity, boosted staff morale and cut costs” is made by Trewin Restorick (letters, 6 September). Where is the evidence for this? I cannot recall seeing anything and isn’t it rather early to have any definitive results, considering the Paralympics are not yet ended?

Cut commuting? Excellent  idea, but it won’t work for  large numbers of workers, including waiters, traffic wardens, delivery drivers, police officers, firefighters etc.

Peter Salter

London SE16

It’s behind you

I notice that every person and event now seems to have a “back story”. Does this now complete the set of positional terms our language needs, along with side-issue, overtone, undertone, endgame, frontispiece, bottom line, topside, in-words and out-takes?

John McInerney

Templeton, Devon

Brave burglars

Bertie Wooster would have agreed with Judge Bowers (“Judge to be investigated over ‘burglary takes courage’ remark”, 6 September). Remember when Bingo Little persuaded him to steal Mrs Bingo’s draft magazine article on life with her lovey- dovey husband? “Bertie lurked nervously in the rhododendrons under her study window. The rising crime figures, he thought, made nonsense of all talk of decline in the national stock. This work took nerves of steel.”

Robert Davies

London SE3

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