From Drake Weideman
A sentence in your story about the miniature endoscope is perhaps one of the most confusing I have ever encountered (24 January, p 21). Perhaps you can explain it to me, as I have also confounded several co-workers by having them read it.
The sentence reads: “These are single fibres with microscopic holes running right through them, like the lettering in a stick of seaside rock.”
The phrase “like the lettering in a stick of seaside rock” is used so easily, as if everyone were familiar with it. I find this incredible. What exactly is a stick of seaside rock, and why does it have lettering running through it? Is this a common feature of English seasides? I find the whole topic intriguing.
The editor writes:
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• Apologies to readers who are not acquainted with the joys of a British seaside holiday. The rock we referred to is a long stick of hard candy with lettering running through it, usually spelling the name of the resort where it is sold. It is immortalised in Graham Greene’s novel Brighton Rock. An explanation of how it is made, and how the lettering is inserted, can be found at .
Farmington Hills, Missouri, US
