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Chrise

Thanks, very pleased Radio Times got it right. I would not expect them to say Holy Saturday.

At last the Bank Holiday weekend is over. I dread it. Traffic jams, chaos at airports and non-stop football. I am now looking forward to my favourite weekend of the year in a few days - the Easter weekend!

I've just seen an advert promoting the "omega 3" in their product. Ignore anything that talks about "omega 3", they have no idea what they are talking about. The "essential oil" is omega-3, where the "-" means "minus". Unsaturated fatty acids have double bonds in the chain. The carbon atom next to the ester linkage is the alpha carbon, the second the beta. However many carbon atoms there are in the chain, the last one is the omega. Omega-3 means there's a double bond 3 carbons away from the end.
I've even seen puffs that suggest that omega-6 is twice as good as omega-3!

ChrisE

Yes I have seen the adverts. I dont like the pronunciation of "omega", oh-mee-geh does not sound correct. I always say oh-meh -geh, but I dont know if this is right.

jigjag

I agree with your pronunciation of omega.
The carol 'Unto us a boy is born' came to mind:
'...Omega and Alpha He! Let the organ thunder...'

The scansion doesn't work with
o-mee-ga.

I don't think the famous wristwatch brand ever used it that way either.

Paul

Thanks, I have been away and have just seen your posting.

I think I picked it up from the science/ maths teachers. I never studied Greek.

I love the last word in a letter published in today's Times:

Sir, The overriding criterion for deciding whether to offer a candidate a place at university should be "will this candidate be able to cope with the courses this university provides?" The candidate's background is irreverent.
Emeritus Professor Christopher Rose-Innes
Wilmslow, Cheshire

I can imagine smoke issuing from the professor's ears when he sees what I assume is a subediting blunder. At last you have a letter published in The Times and it gets mangled.

Paul

Was there a correction or apology?

I was intrigued by a clue in the Times yesterday:

In these skimpy knickers host shows no resistance (5)

Surely a host would not wear such a garment, though a hostess might.

jigjag

No correction or apology that I have seen, though the Letters Editor may have written privately to the professor. Perhaps Saturday's Feedback column may refer to it, but I suspect that The Times does not want to highlight the error.

As for the skimpy knickers and the host - well, the feminine forms (of words) have been extensively discussed here before. Probably host/hostess is going the same way as actor/actress, so 'host' may be apposite in the clue anyway. How quaint 'air hostess' sounds! I think it would be taken as an insult nowadays.

Paul

I think it is a poor show that an apology was not printed. If a politician had been misquoted, it would have been. The learned professor's are important and must be reported accurately.

It was interesting that the Times reported that The Duchess of Cambridge is a crossword fan. No doubt she contributes to this thread.

i may have misheard, but i think a trailer for a sky dramatisation of the midwich cuckoos i've just seen said "an entirely unexplained phenomena has just occurred"...