ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: What is the origin of Kemi Badenoch's surname?
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QUESTION: What is the origin of Kemi Badenoch's surname?
Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch is married to banker Hamish Badenoch who has Celtic roots.
The name Badenoch comes from the Scottish Gaelic 'baideanach', meaning 'drowned land'. This refers to a historic region of the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands where the upper River Spey caused seasonal flooding.
Badenoch was born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke in London, to Nigerian parents. Adegoke is a Yoruba name meaning 'the crown gained advancement'.
Rowan Innes, Inverness
Conservative Party leadership Candidate Kemi Badenoch and her husband Hamish Badenoch leave the BT Studios
The name Badenoch comes from the Scottish Gaelic 'baideanach', meaning 'drowned land'. This refers to a historic region of the Cairngorms National Park (pictured)
QUESTION: Why do we win something 'hands down'?
This comes from the world of horse racing. It refers to a jockey who is so far ahead in a race that they can afford to relax and loosen their grip on the reins, literally letting their hands drop down while still winning easily.
The expression was first recorded in Bell's Life In London And Sporting Chronicle in 1832: 'Independence... won with hands down,' while an 1853 edition had: 'She won with the most perfect ease... going past the post hands down.'
By 1866, the figurative use, achieving a victory with little effort or competition, had been adopted: 'It is a contest between Red-tape and the House of Commons, in which Red-tape will win, hands down' (British Almanac).
Andy White, Uttoxeter, Staffs
QUESTION: Why don't we see seagulls on restaurant menus, especially when they are so often seen as a menace?
Every year at nesting time, ten men sail 40 miles north to Sula Sgeir to harvest guga from the 250ft high cliffs that circle the small island. (Stock photo of a seagull)
Further to the earlier answer, the guga, the preserved body of an almost full-grown gannet chick, is regarded as a delicacy by the people of Ness on the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis.
Every year at nesting time, ten men sail 40 miles north to Sula Sgeir to harvest guga from the 250ft high cliffs that circle the small island. The chicks actually weigh more than their parents; this gives them a chance of survival until they learn to fend for themselves.
On their return, the men sell the guga. Although the locals highly prize this delicacy, it is certainly an acquired taste. One recipe suggests putting a guga and a stone in a pot of boiling water: 'Once you can pierce the stone with a fork, the guga is ready for eating.' An old joke suggests doing the same... but then eating the stone!
John Dearing, Margate, Kent
