X is the only way one of Albie’s fellow soldiers can sign his name.
I was surprised to discover how many young men only learned the three Rs when
they joined the Army.
Here's an excerpt from my Novel Helter-Skelter:-
….it turned out he
was upset because he’d been put on a charge for walking through a door marked
“Authorised Personnel Only”.
“What
did you do that for, you stupid Paddy git?” Thompson demanded.
O’Brien ran his huge
navvy’s hand over his recently shorn scalp and muttered, “Can’t fecking read,
can I?” He wasn’t the only recruit who’d missed out on the three Rs, but he was
probably the only one to have private tuition from his entire hut to back up
the army’s crash course…..
X = a kiss, with
which many a homesick soldier sealed his letters home SWALK. Strangely my
Spanish friends tell me they don’t use an X – they simply write “besos” .
XYLOSE = It is my usual bedtime wind-down to do a Cryptic Crossword
– and this word cropped up so I thought I’d use it today. According to the clue in the crossword it is SWEET AND SUGARY but the dictionary definition is much more
complex:
XYLOSE
is a white crystalline dextrorotatory sugar found in the form of xylan in wood
and straw. It is extracted by hydrolysis with acids and used in dyeing,
tanning, and in foods for diabetics. Formula: C5H10O5.
So now we all know.
A photo of Canada for no real reason other than I am missing my Canadian son. xxxx
