Despite my grammatical obsessions, I’m nevertheless a staunch supporter of the idea that usage must ultimately triumph over dictum. Furthermore, a classical education is no excuse for pretentious, pseudo-Latin mangling.

So it’s great to see GrammarBlog paragon AA Gill extol these concepts in his food column this week. I must admit, however, that pluralising penis as ‘penes’ does have a certain appeal, and I’m seriously contemplating using it in the politest of company.