57 North

You’ll all be familiar with the type of news story that goes: ‘Scientists show that tap dancing is the key to long life’, or the one which heralds: ‘New study shows cure for cancer imminent’. News media of all kinds love these stories. They are upbeat, feel good, cheap time/space fillers.
On slightly longer [...]

I love the way that the phrase “off the beaten track” uses a special sense of the word “off” that looks suspiciously similar to the word “on”. Mostly people who say “off the beaten track” mean on-the-beaten-but-not-yet-paved-track. Or that’s the way it seems to me. Genuinely off the track is hard work. [...]