1. Cannon to the left of us. A few years ago, you could be rebuked in Glasgow if you asked for black coffee. You had to ask for “coffee without cream”. This reportedly happened in Glasgow according to the Global Language Monitor.

Apparently the Enforcers were sometimes a bit confused. The report said that when one person in Glasgow asked for coffee without milk, the server said: “We don’t have any milk, you’ll have to have coffee without cream.”

I remember reading about an edict from the London County Council saying the same thing, but haven’t found a reference to it on the web. As I remember it, Londoners made a big joke out of it. When they would go outside on a moonless night, they would say, “It’s a night without cream.”

By the way, there is a problem with tea. “Black tea” refers to the color of the leaves, not to any milk withheld. (*Sigh*) The English language has as many traps for us as, well, math.

2. Cannon to the right of us. The American Life League has objected to the following press release from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc:

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is honoring American’s sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on this historic day, Jan. 20. By doing so, participating Krispy Kreme stores nationwide are making an oath to tasty goodies — just another reminder of how oh-so-sweet “free” can be.

The League says: “Celebrating his inauguration with “Freedom of Choice” doughnuts – only two days before the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to decriminalize abortion – is not only extremely tacky, it’s disrespectful and insensitive and makes a mockery of a national tragedy.”

Mark Liberman of The Language Log has something to say about this. Wait till he hears that Krispy Kreme backed down and stopped using the word “choice”.

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