Some epithets are really quite brilliant: wanker, for example, with its intimations of onanistic futility, is one of the best. (But then, the Brits, who invented the term, are so much more elegant ...

Transferred aggression is a negative trait – even when born out of frustration. Proverbially speaking, it is like victimising the hen at home because a sparrow devoured one’s corn in the farm. So, one ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...