The new receptionist at work does not, like her predecessor, say “thank you” after her public address announcements. Is she wrong?

Eric Gordon, Wigan

I suppose that her logic is that she has nothing to thank you for, since you have done nothing for her. But logic has little to do with modern manners. Anything that humanises the Kafkaesque drill of office Tannoy announcements is welcome. I think she should soften the din with polite though illogical thank-yous.

How does one deal with a chap who has no idea of basic hygiene and insists in inflicting squalor on his housemates? He refuses to see the misery this causes others. Eviction is not an option.

E. Parkinson, Woodbridge

Some are born squalid. Some achieve squalor. And others have squalor thrust upon them. You are in the last group. Bad luck.

We all have different standards of hygiene. If eviction is not on the table (presumably still covered with yesterday's dirty plates), all that you can do is sigh, and tidy up behind him. And hope to educate him by your good example and unselfish good nature.

It remains that we tidy up behind what we cannot repel, that we palliate what we cannot cure.

What have you got against Charlies? You seem to use my name as a term of abuse.

Charles Knighton, Chelmsford

Some of my best friends are called Charlie. Charlie/Charley has been used down the ages in British English as: 1. A nightwatchman; 2. A small pointed beard (after King Charles I); 3. A fox (Tom Brown's Schooldays); 4. The nap on glossy cloth; 5. A gold watch (pun on sense 1); 6. A hunchback (who was said to carry his little brother Charley on his back); hence 7. A military haversack; 8. The nickname of anyone called Beresford (after Admiral Lord Charles Beresford); 9. Reveille (Navy, “Charley! Charley! Get up and wash yourself”; 10. Charley Ronce, a ponce; 11. A male homosexual; 12. A chamber pot; 13. A fool or softie, Cockney, widespread in phrases such as “a proper Charlie”; 14. Charlie Hunt, the female pudendum; 15. Your Charlie equals Your Girl; 16. A bottle of Carlsberg beer.

There are other variants, etymology obscure. I overuse it in sense 13.

I have invited a dog-owning single friend along to Christmas dinner with a family I know. The hostess has stated that my friend's dog is not welcome, as she has two highly strung cats. So he insists on bringing the dog along but having it stay in the back of his car during dinner. I would not enjoy my meal knowing his poor dog was “out in the cold”. I suggested he find a dog-sitter or leave his dog at home, but both suggestions he has rejected. How should I respond?

Alan Anonymoses, Vancouver

By Anubis and Argos, gods of the dogs, we must harden our hearts and not be sentimental about woofers and yappers. Your kunophilia is admirable, but it is not your dog. Presumably your friend is not going to let his dog freeze in the Vancouver deep and crisp and even. Enjoy your Christmas dinner with your friends, and suggest taking a chippolata or two to your doggy friend in the car. But on no account do so without your friend's approval. People are proprietorial about their dogs and their food.

Dr Hough recently asked if it is right to drink wine with food in his mouth. Derek Harris from Hexham adds that, if he wishes to taste the wine properly and not just use it to wash the food down, he should definitely swallow first — “and thus show respect both to the wine and his lady friend”.