HAVING read the following sentence in a book on religious asceticism, in which somebody is replying to a Zen nun of the fourteenth century, I was disturbed to find that I had suddenly been transformed into a full-on grammar nazi:

“You next mention that you are going to fast.”

Needless to say, this reference is considerably less exciting than it sounds and merely relates to her intended dietary habits. Given that my temporary lapse of free thought in the face of what I assumed to be a missing letter ‘o’ in the word ‘too’ is not dissimilar to that found among the more permanently affected denizens of the self-policing mainstream, next time I would do well to remember the words of Marcus Aurelius: “The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”

On the other hand, perhaps it is not revenge I seek but a more sceptical approach to the possibility of Japanese nuns travelling at high speed?