It was a late night last night, and I was listening to the Shipping Forecast (all jolly good until you get the National Anthem; a waste of airtime, but imagine the uproar if they scrapped it). Anyway, Charlotte Green, or whichever salty sea dog had the pleasure, seemed to be telling us that an awful lot of places were “4 or 5, occasionally 6″. Really, there really were a lot of them. And it occurred to me that this is a bit of a nonsense. If it’s either 4 or 5 that would suggest it’s one or the other but they’re not sure which, while “occasionally 6″ suggests certainty of 6, albeit happening only sometimes. But if it’s to get from 4 to 6, then surely it must pass through 5 on the way, and since 6 definitely happens (occasionally) then it must be 5 sometimes, too.

So I think she should have said “maybe 4, but definitely 5 and occasionally 6″. That would be more correct.

Although in the end I take the train to work, so this doesn’t really help me at all. Or, I suspect, anyone.

Tags: pendantry