Christmas eggcorns

It was getting close to Christmas, and my parents called to make sure all the parcels they'd sent had arrived.

Then they talked to my son, and my dad told him that he had the shingles — a painful rash that older people can catch from children with chickenpox. They chatted for a while about Christmas and so on.

Later that day, when my son's dad came home from work, he asked him how his day had been. "Granddad's got jingle bells!" he reported. That would certainly be a more festive strain of the illness!

My daughter also came up with a Christmassy eggcorn. There was a phase she was going through where she would comment on minor annoyances with pretty strong language — for a three-year-old. I don't know where she gets it from.

Anyway, her brother did something like step accidentally on her foot. "Jesus Crisis!" she said. So, on the 24th, in our house, we'll be celebrating the birth of Jesus Crisis.

All that remains for me to do before I go off on holiday is to wish you a very merry Christmas and all the best for the new year — or, as my son liked to say when he was little, "Happy New Ear!"

I'll be back on 6 January 2010.