A light reader-led look at why taunting singsong phrases like “na-na-na” are uniquely grating.
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers a universal juvenile put-down • This week’s question: will there ever again be a band as big as the Beatles or the Stones? Why is a child going “Na-na, na-na-na!” annoying the world over? I read recently that kids do a version of this in every culture and country. Fred Corbett, London Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com . Continue reading...
A bereavement advice column on whether dating a year after a partner’s death is too soon.
Only you can know when you are ready, but a year is not long to process grief, and you seem to have doubts about this man My long term boyfriend died of cancer last year. We’d been together for 16 years , since I was 21 and he was 23. I had given birth to our only child three weeks before his diagnosis. My son was just shy of 10 months old when his dad died, and he’s now turned two. I loved my late partner deeply and had planned to stay with him for ever. We were embarking on an 18-year project…