The good people who made felt hats used to come into contact with a load of mercurous nitrate, and the effect on their brains tended to be the reason given for the apparently irrational behaviour of some milliners. Hence the early-19th-century "mad as a hatter", as seen in Thackeray
Policing language is never popular and rarely easy. But it is perfectly possible to be both frank and polite. Words around mental health are not so much being banned as recommendations made so we can be sensitive.
Sensitivity is all? Food for thought for crossword setters: "Time to change language of mental health" http://t.co/ZNVFo4VrIt via @guardian
Sarah Hayes (@arachne_xwords) March 2, 2014
in a significant way the words in cryptic crosswords are not on all fours with the words in news stories, features and the rest. In the rest of the paper, phrases and sentences are supposed to make sense and to relate to some approximation of the real world. Crossword clues, on the other hand, relate to a parallel but quite unreal universe.
With 'sew' in the middle, this screams for an '&lit.' clue. 'How to sew if '? 'She's got, we hear the way to sew '. If E? Not easy to finish it. Try again. Hou(r)-sew-I-Fe (Fe=iron). 'I have most of the time to stitch then I iron.' That's nice and perfectly sound.
What do happen, Mose, if our gals lose deir heads? Oh, den you find de ways out! (8)
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