A reader chides me for using the word teleological in a posting about evolution, saying that such vocabulary is a terrible turn-off for some people..

I stand duly chid. Or even chidden. But is he right?

The word of course is in frequent use in and around the pubs where we live. It comes from the two Ancient Greek words tele (meaning TV) and logos (meaning that if it is on TV it must be true and therefore fairly logical).

Anyone who doesn’t know this basic linguistic fact should not be reading this website anyway, and indeed probably can not do so.

All this reminds me of the evening when I was FCO Resident Clerk and the cheery switchboard operator told me that there was a call from Uruguay on the line: "it’s from Monty-video".