“Spread the word!” declares Brian Haisman of Winmalee. “Whilst China’s neighbourhood doings may have generated some murmurings of late, we should be grateful for their Word of the Week: ‘Wanghong’ – meaning ‘internet famous’, with a hint of tackiness. In other words, an ‘influencer’. What an absolutely magic expression.”

“With so many of our political candidates that are barking mad, Michael Fischer’s (C8) suggestion that the pub test is replaced by dog park test is indeed very pawsable,” thinks Peter Miniutti of Ashbury. Representing the voice of reason, Sandra MacQueen of Spring Hill adds: “As neither a pub frequenter nor a dog owner, nor a water cooler loiterer, I suggest ‘a reasonable person test’. Perhaps that might broaden the demographic.”

“I seem to recall one brand of chalk (C8) proclaiming it was ‘dustless chalk’,” writes Frans Boot of Gregory Hills. “We found it to be more like ‘chalk less dust’. Maybe now is a time to start that PhD on why a brand-new stick always broke into three pieces when dropped.”

Erik Nielsen of Colorado (USA) recalls: “When I went to school in Denmark in the 1940s we used inkwells and pens. When not in use the inkwells had a cork stopper. If we added chalk to the ink and put the stopper on, the concoction would ferment and, if you were lucky, the cork would go flying during the period. Some classrooms had ink-spots on the ceiling. Of course, nobody ever pleaded guilty.”

This one will never get old: “The bleeding obvious,” says Richard Hambly of Potts Point. “ABC breakfast news tells us that Kane Tanaka dies at 119 of, wait for it, old age. Really, Michael?”

“I always assumed C8 was a pun on collimate (C8), which means, of course, to focus or narrow a beam or column (of light on certain issues maybe?) Perhaps I’m wrong, but the world would be poorer for it,” reckons Simon Killcross of Randwick.

And now, a crisis message from Patricia Egan of Blackheath: “Attn-stop-Joy Cooksey (C8)-stop-Send frogs-stop-Urgent-stop.”

John Swanton of Coogee is “the last person who wants to rock the boat about our legendary Anzac diggers, but it does seem an inordinate number of them were underage when enlisting, something we heard many of them fess up to in later years. Was the top brass of the day turning a blind eye? It seemed to be quite a common occurrence.”

Column8@smh.com.au

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