Conventional phobias of small spaces, flying or spiders are out. What about arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth?

In a Word ... Tourist

In a Word ... France

In a Word ... Spain

In a word ... Gang. Dispatch from a veteran of the tyre wars

How do you explain to a foreign national the meaning of the word ‘grand’, as we use it?

When it came to food, we lived in a very monochrome Ireland, spuds with everything, cabbage and carrots with most, plus meat or fish

When I joined this newspaper years ago, I announced: ‘I am Patsy and by this name shall I be known heretofore. Hear ye me!’ And, lo, so it has been

A coffee shop experience something of a trial - here is some advice to navigate those exotic menus

You might say that, by any objective standard, the current designation of ‘a generation’ has become absurd

A report has found that Irish 15-year-olds smoke less, drink less alcohol and exercise more than their European peers. This is disgraceful

Cork people believe they have it so good they are not bothered about making an impact on the national consciousness at all. To them, clearly, Cork is all

It is heartwarming to know so many people are thinking of me and ready to offer unexpected gifts

Those of us who admire Jonathan Swift, the contrary old weed, were the original Swifties

It may be English. but the Irish version of English can be confusing

‘Words are like leaves and where they most abound, much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found’

For instance, why ‘a murder of crows’? It seems too harsh. Or ‘an unkindness of ravens’?

Maybe I’m being too hard on golf, but I hate it

Good grammar can be seductive

‘Masculine’ contains within it the word ‘male’. Another is ‘chicken’ with ‘hen’ within, and ‘honourable’ with ‘noble’ within. Isn’t that thrilling?