GLASGOW is a magical city; a romantic location for young lovers to entwine coquettish fingers while strolling down the boulevards of bliss.
No, wait. That’s Paris.
Though Glasgow is definitely the Eternal City, where bold gladiators once battled each other to a grisly death.
Apologies. That’s Rome. (Though, to be fair, the Glasgow Gladiator does exist, and is often to be spotted wrestling his fellow warriors in the late night fast-food emporiums of Hope Street. Though it’s rarely a grisly death he faces, but an even grislier kebab, which he gorges upon after triumphing in hand-to-hand combat.)
It may not be Paris or Rome, but some people do divine a glam aspect to the Big G, as reader Caroline Hill discovered while alighting from a London to Glasgow train this week, when she overheard a couple chatting.
“It’s great to be back in Grand Central Station,” trilled the woman.
Her paramour gave her a quizzical look. “This isn’t New York,” he scoffed. “Just Auld Glesga.”
King-size feast
DISMISSIVE of turkey with all the trimmings, Brian Johnston from Torrance is boldly experimenting with a different main course for this year's Christmas dinner.
“We're having Good King Wenceslas pizza,” he reveals. “Deep-pan, crisp and even.”
Clowning around
AN educated youth is a marvel to behold. Though the occasional child would be better off unschooled.
Reader Helen Raynor was dining with her husband and 12-year-old son, and was excitedly telling hubby about a promotion she bagged that day at work.
At which point her son cut in by saying: “Your vainglorious hubris amuses me, human clown.”
A still dumbfounded Helen says: “I’ve no idea where he learned that phrase, though I’ve decided he’ll not be reading any more challenging books, that’s for sure.”
Doubling down
GRAMMATICALLY-MINDED reader John Butler points out: “Blink is the plural of wink.”
Garden galivanting
INSPIRED reader Brendan Keenan, who spends most of his waking hours devising questions of earth-shattering import to ask the Diary, gets in touch to ask: “If you went down to one of those big garden centres in Lanarkshire, beside the Clyde, and had a glass of wine, would it be a Swally in the Valley?”
Cinematic shivers
OUR readers continue listing the freezing films they intend watching to compliment the icy interiors of their homes this December.
Says Gordon Casely: “My choice of chilly viewing is that 1950s Alan Ladd classic, Hell Below Zero.”
Read more from the Diary: The bottom line on the benefits of tomatoes
Fun for all
“ANYONE know when the Sainsbury’s self-checkout Christmas party is?” asks reader Henry Barnes. “I’d love to go.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel