It’s been a good week for ... Scottish breakfasts
You can call a spud a spud, but in the fired-up world of baked goods you’ve got to mind your language.
Potatoes have been a hot topic for Tesco bosses, who have ditched plans to rename tattie scones as potato scones after complaints from Scottish customers.
Margaret Cooper, 64, from Bo’ness, West Lothian, complained to Tesco after she noticed the change in name at her local supermarket. “They sent me an email telling me they were looking into it," she said. “I was surprised but pleased to receive a call to say that Tesco had taken on board my complaint and would change the name of the product to ‘tattie scones’ in the next two weeks."
Michael Hance, director of the Scots Language Centre, welcomed the news: “I’m really glad to hear Tesco has responded to customer pressure," he said. "‘Tattie’ is a perfectly respectable Scots word used by people across the country.”
Tesco have insisted they never intended to permanently rebrand the tattie scone. "The name changed briefly in error due to a labelling upgrade," said a spokesman. "This has been rectified.”
A half-baked excuse if ever you’ve heard one.
So customers will be keeping a close eye on supermarket shelves. The brief appearance of the potato version of a Scottish delicacy is scone, but not forgotten.
It’s been a bad week for ... texting
Research has uncovered a mind-blowing phenomenon: people walk slower while texting on their mobile phones to try to avoid accidents.
The study – a classic of the surely-not-Sherlock genre – also found that walking texters often make large, exaggerated movements to negotiate crowds and compensate for their diminished vision.
Dr Conrad Earnest had the idea for the study after becoming irritated by the behaviour of pedestrians on their mobile phones. "One day I was walking on the high street and totally frustrated by the drunken weaving about of texters who were also trying to carry on phone conversations during their shopping," he said.
I sympathise with Dr Earnest and his motivation to initiate a study because something was annoying him.
One day, I’m going to conduct research into pointless studies with irritatingly obvious results.
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