The reign in Speign

I think I am going to start a weekly John Major-style 'back to basics' spelling column. Here's the BBC's Chief Scaremonger Environment correspondent with one of my pet hates:

"However, it's not too late for David Cameron to turn this around and leave an environmental legacy he can be proud of," she said.

"He can start by reigning in his chancellor, who seems hell-bent on trashing the environment."

No, no, no.

'Reign' is what the Queen does. It means 'rule' and is related to the Latin rex or regina, king and queen. It's almost an anagram of regina. Perhaps that will help. "Reign in" makes no sense.

'Rein' is what you have on a horse to control the bridle. To stop or slow the animal, you pull on the reins, or "rein in" the horse.

From the context, I am sure Black intended that Cameron should slow down or stop his chancellor (shouldn't that have a capital 'C'?), rather than have him rule the country from his living room.

(HMTQ: As it is tipping it down outside, we propose to reign in for the afternoon.)

A hundred lines, Black, "I will learn to spell proper, like" and homework is to find out that 'homophone' means. No, not that, stupid boy ...

An Undignified Manor

According to the Daily Mail, the model Caprice had a night out in London on Wednesday, and when getting into a car on her way home she briefly exposed her stocking tops and suspenders to the waiting paparazzi.

Now, I read the interwebs and I know that celebrities often 'accidentally' show their underwear (or lack of) to the waiting world, especially when climbing in and out of cars. I assume it's some kind of publicity thing.

You know, "Hey, ChelseeaChevrolaye, your public profile has dipped six points. We need to get your gusset into The Sun and fast!"

However, Caprice is not noted for doing this kind of thing, so I will give her a pass on this one and say it was a brief moment of inelegance. The Daily Mail has this to say:

Caprice's fishnet stockings looked perfect before she flashed the undergarments as she sat down in an undignified manor.

At a guess, an undignified manor is where the gangs wear mis-matched clothing and frequently fall over into puddles of muddy water while belching loudly and wiping their mouths with the backs of their hands. Yes, spelling still matters. At any rate, it gives me the opportunity to post what may well be the nicest illustration on this blog for many a month.

Here you go. Click and it gets bigger (fnarr).



Credit: Smartpictures.co.uk