circumflex – Shady Characters

ran from Mont-Saint-Michel to Utah Beach/Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, along the north-west coast of the Manche region, on the second of July. As the riders followed the 188km route, they passed through the little town of Gouville-sur-Mer, which, in the time-honoured tradition of provincial villages that the Tour visits but once every few decades or so, laid out its slogan for the TV helicopter to see: Gouville-sur-Mer, capitale mondiale de l’huître de pleine mer (Gouville-on-sea, world capital of the open sea oyster).

Shady Characters at the New York Times

February 22, 2016

I recently wrote a piece for the New York Times on the kerfuffle currently engulfing the humble circumflex accent (ê). You can read the piece here — let me know what you think about it in the comments or, if you’d prefer, drop me a line via the Contact page. (Many thanks to Jessica Svendsen for the use of the image that accompanies the article!)