What’s the difference between a pal and a friend?
The level of intimacy.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• Pals can be found on social media. Real friends can’t.
Margaret Wilkes, Perth, Western Australia
• A pal is a casual acquaintance who may develop into a friend.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• You can say “You’re my friend”, but you don’t need to say “You’re my pal”.
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
• “Friend” usually signifies a relationship of somewhat greater depth. We don’t, for example, sing “What a pal we have in Jesus”.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• The difference between being an Australian and an American.
Lorna Kaino, Fremantle, Western Australia
• A pal is a buddy but a friend has the potential to be a BFF.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• A pal is fleeting: for half an hour you’re the greatest; then when his mug is drained, his mug droops and memory fades. “Hey, pal” is generally derogatory since the 50s (TV cop shows).
RM Fransson, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• Pals share your worldview. Friends are hard-won and unexpected.
Maurice Trapp, Le Vigan, France
• You party with a pal, but a friend helps you tidy up after.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
The water keeps on rising
Doesn’t much feel like the Age of Aquarius, so what shall we call it?
The Age of Aquariums. Silly, I know. But it seems to be representative of humans’ effect on the natural world.
Charlie Pearson, Portland, Oregon, US
• I think we should call it the Age of Acquisitions.
Denise MacKean, Denman Island, British Columbia, Canada
• The Age of The Chicken McNugget.
Joyce Reesor, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada
• I propose the Age of Deleterious.
Earl St Jean, Warkworth, Ontario, Canada
• With the rise in sea levels, maybe we are in fact seeing “the dawning of the Age of Aquarius”.
John Anderson, Pukekohe, New Zealand
• It is the Era of Malevolence.
Rosemary Durrant, Breton, Alberta, Canada
Assess the stupidity quotient
Is it time to rethink our definition of intelligence?
Given the state of the world, is it time to rethink our definition of stupidity?
John Boyle, Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia
• No need: determination of the intelligence quotient was always somewhat artificial.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Please practise those skills
What most useful skill could serve well when carried into old age?
Defying the odds.
Rob McMurdo, Berry, NSW, Australia
• Few skills whenever acquired are useful unless regularly practised, honed and occasionally reconsidered. Some, such as listening, are more durable, if rarely used today.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
• Reading widely.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
Any answers?
When we lose loved ones we try to keep them alive in our mind. How?
Edward Black, Church Point, NSW, Australia
What makes an idea worthy of a sacrifice?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
