A few days ago I received a text from my wife, informing me ‘the cat has passed its M.O.T.’ This surprised me on two counts. Firstly, we do not have a cat. Secondly, I was not aware of any recent legislation in the U.K where the roadworthiness of cats had become a legal requirement.

The whole episode ended over a conversation around spell checkers and idle thumbs. It got me thinking about the importance of spelling and, in this social media age, is the stress over a misspelt word worth the agony.