Blimey O'Riley! Talk about breaking a butterfly on a wheel. Look, I'd never dream of patronisng all you learned ladies and gents by explaining to you on this forum what 'penumbra' (in its primary sense) means. Obviously, you all know that already. However, both Jon and Dr D seemed to have difficulty in understanding my metaphorical use of it. I therefore thought I'd be obliging and give an example of its metaphorical use as quoted in the OED. Beyond that, I HAVE NOTHING TO ADD. I wasn't trying to be subtle, it was just a word that came into my head as conveying roughly the sort of meaning I had in mind.

Actually, I find it difficult to believe that you learned ladies and gents didn't have a good enough idea if what I was trying to get over - I suspect you were just trying to wind me up. But if I'm wrong I WITHDRAW THE WORD. I'm quite happy to admit it may have been INAPPROPRIATE OR INSUFFICIENTLY PRECISE. OK? 'Penumbra', unlike 'poo', is not a very interesting word, in my opinion. (If others disagree, they will no doubt continue to discuss it amongst themselves.)

Could I just make two comments on 'Thisgirl''s latest? First, isn't to say a word is just a collection of letters a bit like saying a poem is just a collection of words or a ballet is just a lot of people moving their arms and legs around? Second, how would your idea that it's entirely up to individuals to decide whether to use a certain word apply, for example, to the word beginning with N which used to be commonly applied to black people?