In Scouting for Boys, published in 1908, Robert Baden-Powell set out the promise that every Scout makes. It began “On my honour I promise that” and listed three commitments: to do his duty to God and the King, to help others “whatever it costs me,” and to obey the Scout Law.
The promise is still made today, in versions for different faiths and for those of no faith.
On 9 March 2021, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of the Queen after Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, had made allegations of racism in a television interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The statement said: “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
In England and Wales, an accepted offer on a house is not binding until contracts are exchanged. Until then, the seller may accept a higher offer from someone else. This is called gazumping, and it is not illegal.
Estate agents must pass every offer to the seller, even after one has been accepted. Buyers can ask for the property to be marked “under offer” or “sold subject to contract.”
In the House of Commons, members may not accuse one another of lying. A Speaker’s ruling of 1973, citing Erskine May, the guide to parliamentary procedure, listed “charges of deliberate falsehood” as unparliamentary. The ruling added: “Good temper and moderation are the characteristics of parliamentary language.”
The rule produced its own vocabulary. On 22 February 1906, Winston Churchill, then Under-Secretary for the Colonies, was asked whether the government condoned slavery of Chinese laborers in the Transvaal. He replied that the word slavery “in its full sense could not be applied without a risk of terminological inexactitude.” Terminological inexactitude is still used as a polite word for a lie.
On 8 September 2020, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis, told the House of Commons that the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill would break international law. His words were: “yes, this does break international law in a very specific and limited way.” The clauses in question would have overridden part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The clauses caused considerable controversy in the United Kingdom and abroad. Several resignations followed, including that of Jonathan Jones, head of the Government Legal Department. After an agreement in principle with the European Union on 8 December 2020, the government withdrew the provisions in question.
Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond, first appeared in A Bear Called Paddington, published in the United Kingdom on 13 October 1958. When people incur his disapproval, Paddington gives them one of his special “hard stares,” which his Aunt Lucy taught him.
In 1937, High Trees House leased a block of flats in Battersea from Central London Property Trust at £2,500 a year. The war emptied many flats, and in January 1940 the landlord agreed in writing to accept £1,250. Nothing was given in return, and no end date was set.
In 1945, with the flats full again, the landlord sought the full rent. In 1946, Mr. Justice Denning held that full rent was due from mid-1945. He added that the landlord could not have claimed the full rent for the war years: “I am satisfied that a promise such as that to which I have referred is binding.”
The rebuke We are not amused is attributed to Queen Victoria, but the evidence is thin. The earliest known attribution is in Caroline Holland’s Notebooks of a Spinster Lady, published in 1919, which tells it as a story she did not witness.
In a 1976 interview, Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, reported that the Queen had denied ever saying it.
Some farmers in Northern Ireland still follow the custom of the luck penny. The seller gives the buyer a small sum after a sale to “seal the deal and show their goodwill.”
A 2026 report found the custom alive in parts of Antrim and Londonderry, sometimes with a £20 note in place of the penny. “Historically, the lucky penny was literally just a penny.”
In the BBC comedy Yes Minister, the senior civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby has a way to hinder a minister’s plan without opposing it. He calls the policy “courageous.” The word reminds the minister that “a controversial policy will lose votes, whilst a courageous one will lose the election.”