Once, many years ago (obviously), a student mentioned that she had seen John Major on TV and was surprised that such a well-dressed man was wearing such a peculiar flower in his buttonhole. Of course it was in November.
It happened again this morning. A student told me that he had recently had a meeting with a British professional contact who was wearing a rather odd flower. Was it the symbol of a political party, he wondered (I don’t know why he thought that).
It is right and proper that armistice poppies should be worn but it must be said that they confuse foreigners, and increasingly so as people travel more.
I mention this in my Guide to English-Language Usage:
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