Regarding Marina Hyde’s reference to JD Vance and the German word Backpfeifengesicht, meaning “a face that is worthy of being slapped”, in French there is the similar concise expression tête à claque (There are 1,000 grotesque memes of JD Vance – and they’re all more likable than the real thing, 7 March).
Xavier Roche
London
• Fittingly, I read Adrian Chiles’s article (Remote controls, tumble dryers, documentaries … do we have to make everything so complicated?, 5 March) in a hotel room where the lights and curtains have to be operated by a tablet computer on the desk. I couldn’t wait to leave.
Anil Patel
London