Thing To Be Today: gnomic.

So the great question of the day must be: are gnomes gnomic?

And if not, why not?

(Gnomic, in case you're wondering, describes a short and profound-sounding saying about Life The Universe and, well, Everything.)

Sadly, rather as in Hannah Glasse's (mis- but much- quoted) recipe for jugged hare, discovering the answer must I'm afraid first involve catching your gnome.

Now, of the three chief types of gnome, the legendary ones are difficult because, well, they don't exist, though I must accept that the concrete garden ones are seldom known for their witless chatter (and surely soon someone will produce a wireless-enabled gnome which will say solemnly Life is a Bowl of Radishes whenever a cat walks past). 

The other sorts of gnome are easier to find, one type being an little old man with little time for either other people or personal hygiene, and the other sort being an international banker (as in the gnomes of Zurich).

As the first hate people and the second are devoted to money, it would seem the chances of either of them coming up with anything worth hearing are remote.  

But then there's George Soros. He's a banker who's made more than eight billion dollars US, and he also has a nice line in nice lines.

Whenever there is a conflict between universal principles and self-interest, self-interest is likely to prevail, he said.

I'm only rich because I know when I'm wrong. I basically have survived by recognising my mistakes.

The worse a situation becomes, the less it takes to turn it around, and the bigger the upside.

And so there we are. George Soros. A gnomic gnome. 

I mean, what more could anyone want?

Thing To Be Today: gnomic. The word gnome as in legendary creature was made up by Paracelsus the Baddy. No one knows from where he got the idea. Gnomic comes from the Greek gnōmē, from gignōskein, to know.