As a Dutch reader living in the UK, I was pleased to see John Crace (Digested week, 9 October) refer to the Dutch “activity” of niksen, ie, of “doing nothing”. He appears to refer to this as an art form contributing to happiness. However, in common parlance it will be used as follows: de hele dag lopen niksen or de hele dag zitten niksen, which mean “walking about all day doing sod all” and “sitting around all day doing sod all”. Both are derogatory comments. This interpretation is more in keeping with the Dutch work ethic.
Wico van Mourik
Gainford, County Durham
• There are hundreds of dogs in shelters deserving a home so the best advice about buying a puppy is don’t shop, adopt (Puppy power: the costs and pitfalls of buying a dog, 10 October).
Richard Wetherell
London
• Another attack is made on do-gooders (Legal profession hits back at Johnson over ‘lefty lawyers’ speech, 6 October). So out goes Jesus, “a man who went about doing good” (Acts 10v38).
Rev Peter B Godfrey
Stonehouse, Gloucestershire
• Given that MPs have relinquished to ministers some of their duties to scrutinise laws and trade deals, thus reducing their workload, should they not take a pay cut, rather than the projected £3,000 pay increase?
Pat Whitaker
Hurst Green, East Sussex
• When we asked where we were going on holiday (Letters, 11 October), we were always going “there and back to see how far it is”.
Linda Gresham
Birmingham
