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And finally ....Lynchpin, linchpin and broken wheels: A metaphor is dead when people have forgotten its literal meaning. This truth was appreciated by John Walsh in his Thursday column about the ancient Olympic Games: "The night before the race, Pelops sneaked down to the chariot park, took the restraining pins out of his opponent's axle and replaced them with wax." Walsh's decision not to give the "restraining pins" their proper name is understandable: they are, of course, linchpins. Any reference to actual physical linchpins would no doubt have puzzled some readers, accustomed though they probably are to using the word in a metaphorical sense (and quite likely misspelling it as "lynchpin").

Errors & Omissions, The Independent, 11th June 2005