Today is February 4, and this date for the past six years has marked the first of four weekly installments of a Grammarnoir series, climaxing on March 4, National Grammar Day.
This year there isn't one. Imagination and invention have failed me.
Oh, I wrote paragraph in which Geoffrey Pullum rapped sharply at my door, his eyes gleaming as he announced, "The game's afoot!" But it led nowhere.
I feared last year that I would not be able to surpass, or even match, the sixth in the series, "Grammar never takes a holiday," which had, if I may say so, a number of fine touches. And so it has proved to be.
I am very sorry to disappoint you.