July the 4th, Independence Day, reminds us of George Bernard Shaw’s comment that England and America are two countries separated by the same language. The USA has no official language at federal level but 80% claim English as a mother tongue. The BBC recently listed “Britishisms” that were not in the USA language but have now crossed the Atlantic including: Autumn, Gobsmacked (reportedly used by Obama), Innit and Ginger (instead of redhead - from Harry Potter books). Apparently English is growing with the internationalisation of the language; it is calculated that a new word is added every 98 seconds. I am not certain that George W Bush’s “misunderestimate” has been included but this certainly can add to confusion.

Photography can also seem confusing. The Fordingbridge Camera Club, as always, stands ready to help. We will have a stand at the Fordingbridge Summer Festival at the Riverside Park on Saturday 21st July. Call in and see the work we produce or just pop in to say hello. You can tell us what you want from a camera club and we will see if we can match your needs. We are a friendly, go-ahead club meeting at Avonway Community Centre at 7.30pm on alternate Wednesdays. Our website, www.fordingbridgecameraclub.org.uk will soon have our programme for the new season. It is a mixture of talks by visiting top photographers, coupled with opportunities to show your work on top quality equipment and have it commented on by experienced photographic judges. In addition to our regular meetings, we are devoting many evenings to Practical Photography, a group to help members who are new-comers to photography. These sessions have proven to be very popular but are only open to club members.

One Highland Scottish word that is unfamiliar in both England and America is ‘giomlaireachd’. It means ‘the habit of dropping in at mealtimes’.