Mea Culpa: All I want for Christmas is a decent festive pun

Sub-editor Zak Thomas on questions of style and usage in this week’s Independent

Tall order: workers place lights on the Christmas tree outside parliament earlier this month (Getty)

John Rentoul is taking a deserved break from style pedantry this week to focus on issues such as the government’s so-called response to the pandemic. 

I have written before about my dislike of “so-called”, but it looks like I’m fighting a losing battle on that front. John used it twice in one sentence this month and I have to admit that I quite enjoyed it. Besides, there are more important style matters that require urgent attention.

’Tis the season to be shoddy: With Christmas on the horizon, you will start to see these pages littered with festive puns. Some of them will be brilliant; others might feel tired. But don’t worry: I’m making a list, I’m checking it twice, I’m gonna find out if we’ve used a pun twice. A quick look at our Daily Edition archive shows that we’ve used “’tis the season” in nine separate headlines over course of four years. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t celebrated nine Christmases in that time. I’ve had a chat with the subbing council and I can gladly report that The Independent has introduced a strict quota of one ’tis a year. It looks like Christmas has come early as the phrase has been used twice over the past week – that was before the crackdown came into force.