Stephen Chicken chastises the Guardian for its use of “reached out”, presumably because it is a US colloquialism (Letters, 1 February). He suggests “contacted” instead. However, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of “contact”, to get in touch with, as, oops, an early 20th-century US colloquialism. Plus ça change, plus everything’s the same damn thing.
Judith Flanders
Montreal, Canada
• Dark showering may be very calming (Pass notes, 4 February), but bear in mind that most bathroom fans are activated by the light switch. The fan should be extracting 15 litres of damp air every second – where will all that moisture go if the fan doesn’t come on?
Carol O’Byrne
Cardiff
• I have installed Clawdbot (Viral AI personal assistant seen as step change – but experts warn of risks, 2 February) and instructed it to read the Guardian each day and generate 10 pithy emails to Guardian letters in the hope of upping my disappointingly low publication rate.
Ron Jacob
London
• As students in the 1960s we brought home to Newcastle two duvets from Copenhagen (Letters, 4 February). A customs officer took a razor blade and split them open, looking for drugs. He didn’t believe they were bedding.
Roger Day
Wedhampton, Wiltshire
• I fully agree with your editorial on leasehold reform (29 January), but I’d suggest a linguistic change. People who buy freeholds to get an income from the ground rents are not “investors”. They are rentiers.
Donald Mason
London
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