Stephen Chicken chastises the Guardian for its use of “reached out”, presumably because it is a US colloquialism (Letters, 1 February). He suggests “contacted” instead. However, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of “contact”, to get in touch with, as, oops, an early 20th-century US colloquialism. Plus ça change, plus everything’s the same damn thing.
Judith Flanders
Montreal, Canada

Dark showering may be very calming (Pass notes, 4 February), but bear in mind that most bathroom fans are activated by the light switch. The fan should be extracting 15 litres of damp air every second – where will all that moisture go if the fan doesn’t come on?
Carol O’Byrne
Cardiff

I have installed Clawdbot (Viral AI personal assistant seen as step change – but experts warn of risks, 2 February) and instructed it to read the Guardian each day and generate 10 pithy emails to Guardian letters in the hope of upping my disappointingly low publication rate.
Ron Jacob
London

As students in the 1960s we brought home to Newcastle two duvets from Copenhagen (Letters, 4 February). A customs officer took a razor blade and split them open, looking for drugs. He didn’t believe they were bedding.
Roger Day
Wedhampton, Wiltshire

I fully agree with your editorial on leasehold reform (29 January), but I’d suggest a linguistic change. People who buy freeholds to get an income from the ground rents are not “investors”. They are rentiers.
Donald Mason
London