BANTER has got itself a bad name. I’ve never been a fan of it. The word has been making me cringe for a good while now. I was once complimented on my television work by a fellow in the street. “Love your shows!” he beamed. “Great banter!” Pathetically grateful as I am for any praise, this was nevertheless a dagger to my intellectual heart. Banter? I’d always considered my work finding metaphysical meaning in sport and other stuff to be the very essence of public service broadcasting. There I was, proud to be informing, educating and explaining, only to hear it was but banter.

Banter, the verb: to make fun of; to joke at. Banter, the noun: humorous ridicule, joking. Another, related, noun: banterer. What an awkward word. It’s what that chap thought I was: a good banterer. It’s the mark of a poor word that it begets words which are even worse. Believe it or not, there’s an adverb: banteringly, another mouthful of cringe.