Image via WikipediaBête noire: noun phrase – French; literally means ‘black beast’; bane of a person’s life; someone or something insufferable, an object causing aversion.
‘Rather appropriately, the hound in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ could be described as the ‘bête noire’ of the piece.’
‘Along with many authors of renown, Hemingway found his bête noire was excessive drinking.’
1 June 1946 – TV licences were first introduced into the UK. For those who don’t know, the British Broadcasting Corporation isn’t allowed to use advertising to raise revenue (long may it remain so) and has to rely on the income accrued by issuing a licence for viewers and listeners to its services. This has long been a bone of contention for those who believe in the supremacy of the free market. But, for those of us who prefer not to have our entertainment, education and information constantly interrupted by banal pleas for our money, the licence system allows the BBC to provide a broadcasting service second to none, which remains respected the World over.
