What is the difference between left and right in politics?
The left protest and hug trees while the right laugh all the way to the bank.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• It’s only a matter of whether the glass is half-full or half-empty.
Bruce Cohen, Worcester, Massachusetts, US
• I had to work it out with mirrors, but on reflection, none.
John Grinter, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
• Left is always right.
Dick Hedges, Nairobi, Kenya
• Not enough on most important issues. An elderly UK citizen was asked why she did not vote in a recent election. She said: “I don’t vote for either of those parties. It only encourages them!”
Margaret Wilkes, Perth, Western Australia
• In some countries at least, they are separated by the barrier of a huge area of common ground.
Harvey Mitchell, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
• They both stand for defence of the realm, equality of opportunity, justice, welfare, health (and so on). The left wing understand all these concepts but can’t work out how to fund them. The right wing are more than capable of the funding, but don’t understand the concepts.
Alan Williams-Key, Madrid, Spain
• These days, it seems, capitalism trumps everything – and right is wrong.
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
• Why not try sitting on the fence to get a better view?
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• Right and wrong, respectively.
Stuart Williams, Kampala, Uganda
That was really a close shave
Where or when is the nick of time?
At the precise moment when you look before you leap.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• The phrase “nick of time” dates from the 1640s, the old custom being to mark time by making notches on a tally stick. Similarly, candles with lines drawn around them were used to mark periods of time.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• In the ring – when a boxer is saved by the bell.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• The second before a close shave.
Neil Johnson, Birmingham, UK
• I don’t know where all that time went, but whoever nicked it should be made to return it.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• Not sure, but according to Tom Lehrer it happens while you’re sliding down the razor blade of life.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
Bring on the Olympic golf!
What sport most taxes an observer’s ability to stay interested?
By coincidence I was pondering this exact question while watching baseball’s World Series and before I knew it, it was over. Perhaps I’ll reflect on this further while taking in Olympic golf next year.
D Stewart Sinclair, Montreal, Canada
• Undoubtedly Test cricket, where play is routinely interrupted over the course of five days for lunch, tea, drinks, four nights’ sleep for both participants and observers, bad light or inclement weather, after which it can all end without either side actually winning.
Antithesis to this tedium is women’s beach volleyball, where there is a regulation that may disqualify competitors for wearing insufficiently brief bikinis.
Gary Laidlaw, Norwich, UK
• In general, sports used to be more fun to play than to watch. Now, an observer’s interest is maintained by television coverage, particularly the close-up, instant replay, highlights and the condensed version, such that even five-day Test cricket is tolerable.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Any answers?
Does it have to be a sin?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
What is the greatest honour or recognition one can receive?
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
