Fancy London: a rant.

I'm having a bit of trouble with my eyes. They should improve in a couple of months - I'm having a series of small operations - but just at the moment I'm having to get by on the vision of rather less than one eye.

It makes crossing a busy road a bit scary, but mostly I'm fine, and I've actually found there are real compensations. The other week I was making my purblind way though central London, and opposite the British Museum I saw (but not very well) what seemed to be a typical tourist gift shop, full of Union Flags and teddy bears dressed as Yeomen of the Guard.

It's called Fancy That of London, and it's probably a very fine shop indeed.

I read its name as Fancy Tat.

I was still laughing when I turned the corner into Bedford Square.

Word To Use Today: tat. This word meaning tawdry items of little value seems to come from the word tatty, a chiefly British word meaning shabby or worn out. Tatty is probably related to the Old English tættec, a  tatter.