Ledbury Focus September 2019 Ledbury Focus September 2019 v2 | Page 20

Good vocabulary . . . !!! I recently called an old engineering friend of mine and asked what he was working on these days. CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES FOR MEN k JOHN WHITE SHOES k MISH MASH k ND k EDWIN JAGGER k HJ HALL k MERC k OPENING HOURS Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm Saturday, 10am - 5pm 1 Tudor Mews, The Homend, Ledbury HR8 1BT Telephone: [phone] renaissance-menswear.co.uk 20 He replied that he was working on “aqua-thermal treatment of ceramics, aluminium and steel under a constrained environment.” I was impressed until, upon further enquiry, I learned that he was washing dishes with hot water under his wife’s supervision! * * * * * * David Cameron when visiting a local primary school spent some time in one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked Mr Cameron if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy'. So the former Prime Minister asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'. A little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a 'tragedy.' ' 'No', said David, 'that would be an accident.' A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everybody inside, that would be a tragedy' 'I'm afraid not', explained David, 'that's what we would call a 'great loss''. The room went silent. None of the other children volunteered. David searched the room. 'Isn't there anyone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?' Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand . . . In a quiet voice he said: 'If a plane carrying you and Mr Clegg was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.' 'Fantastic!' exclaimed David. 'That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?' 'Well,' says little Johnny 'it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss . . . and it probably wouldn’t be a bloody accident either!’ To advertise call 01684 833715 or email: [email protected]