Words: rentership, n.
LIFE NEED not be a vale of tears. A walk along any high street brings that vista which is the Radio Rentals window, which currently sports a poster: "Discover the Joys of Rentership".
Unknown to any dictionary, this noun suggests a populace sat in a beatific state because it does not exactly own a telly. The woman in the Fulham branch was fazed by the enquiry about its meaning, origins - and whether it differed from the mundane business of simply renting. "It doesn't really, I suppose," she said, scuppered in the attempt to foist a washing-machine on me. "It's all head office." Where a poster about the joys of renting was perhaps seen as a call to go on the game, indeed a loftier calling than producing fodder for digital channels.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies