Little Lisa is good at accents. Mike, who’s from Ireland, remains non-plussed, however, by the way she frequently slips into Oirish when she encounters him.

How apt, then, that when Mike was introduced to a new PhD student of oriental origin yesterday he should be the one to fill a lull in conversation by asking the poor guy if he had “ever done any martial arts”. The correct response would have been: “Ah so! I vereh mush enjoy demonstrating my karate chops by sricing your fine Irish potatoes in two.”.