Treble

I have recently noted a few more signs of obstinacy amongst the English. Number one: they use the word 'treble' instead of 'triple'. There is absolutely no reason for this, as far as I can see. If one of the two options actually resembled the word 'three' it would have upper hand, but as both exclude the 'h', I don't really see how either one could be better than the other. However, as Americans use the word triple, we should win as there are more of us. I'm not sure if anyone in these parts has yet been tempted to use the term 'three-peat'.

My next sign of obstinacy is the use of the word 'fixture'. Sports teams do not have 'schedules' they have 'fixtures'. Up until I learned this little trick I found it next to impossible to find out when Chelsea would be playing at home (and I can therefore make plans to avoid game traffic), as when you look up 'Chelsea schedule' you don't really find anything of use. However, as I discovered the other day, if you look up 'Chelsea fixtures' you are immediately lead to a schedule of games. So another thing to keep in mind - my gym has a class schedule, Chelsea has a list of fixtures.

Let's say you want to arrange a meeting of some kind. The Anglo you are aiming to meet with will again not check their schedule or their calendar, they will check their diary. Mind you, I have no idea what they record their personal thoughts and feelings in if their diary is just a list of dates. Of course, a wall calendar is still called a wall calendar, just to be annoying.

So to sum things up, if you want to jot down on your calendar that there are three soccer games on Saturday, you would write that there is a treble bill of football fixtures in your diary.

Don't say I never taught you anything useful!