I received an email from Paula Spencer over the weekend. She had received my Looks Like Beirut certificate (I was beginning to have doubts on whether the postal service was actually working). Here’s what she had to say:
Thank you so much for the award it was a real surprise! I apologies for the very tired cliche, your point is well made and well received. I wasn’t personally responsible for the quote, which came from a newspaper in 1996- well before my time, but the perpetuation of the phrase is entirely unnecessary and I will endeavor to eradicate its use, wherever possible in future. Unfortunately for some reason newspapers still like these over-used analogies though! I will pass on your comments to the journalist who wrote the article, keep up the good work, kind regards, Paula
The certificate was sent following an article about a “little Beirut” in Thanington in the UK and although it was pretty evident that Paula did not come up with the term, I still decided to send her the certificate.
I greatly appreciate Paula’s response and help in ridding the world of the cliche. She now joins the growing list of Looks Like Beirut converts. Looking forward to more certificates and more replies!
— Photo: Hamra, Beirut by Lolinka via flickr —
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