Chronophage (n): The locust-like creature atop Cambridge's Corpus Clock, acting as its escapement mechanism.

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Buoyant (adj): Having the ability to keep afloat in liquid or gas.

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Nineteen (n): A number in the range 10-20; a natural number; also a prime number. It is the atomic number for potassium.

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Heavy plant (n): A term for industrial-grade maintenance equipment used for tasks like building and road maintenance.

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Dūcan (verb, Old English): To dive, from which we get our modern word for the duck.

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At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it. After that, there remains only the journey itself, which is nothing but the process through which we lose our ownership of it – Yukio Mishima

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Today we are celebrating a momentous date – it’s 08/08/08, an occurrence we could not let pass unremarked. And it has the added advantage of working out whether you’re using the civilised British formula or the utterly counterintuitive American one ;- ))

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