Katy Guest affirms the Oxford English Dictionary’s contribution to our understanding of regional English varieties (Embrace our regional slang, or you can kiss my chuddies, 1 April), but we should not forget the work of that other pillar of the establishment: the BBC. Way back in the 1950s, Wot Cheor Geordie was broadcast for purely regional consumption at a time when visitors to some parts of Tyneside required an interpreter to make sense of things. But the “educated Geordie” that I have spoken since schooldays can now be heard presenting sports reports and economic policy on BBC One – occasionally provoking the traditional “Haddaway wi’ yer barra!” shouted at the television set.
Geoff Reid
Bradford, West Yorkshire
• Many of us in Cumbria were very proud of a student from here who on the 23 March demo in London gave Theresa May some timely advice: “Git yam lass. Nee yan likes ya.”
Janet Mansfield
Aspatria, Cumbria
• I’m joining George Clooney and Elton John by not staying at either the Dorchester or Beverly Hills Hotel for the duration (Elton John joins call for hotel boycott, 1 April). That was a minimum-effort protest on my part.
Ralph Jones
Rochester, Kent
• Searching for the April Fools’ joke in Monday’s Guardian, I concluded that the most absurd one was the notion that Liz Truss is considered to be a serious contender to replace Theresa May as prime minister (Report, 1 April).
James Ingram
Sandhurst, Berkshire
• Don’t give Eddie Izzard, Jim Davidson or Boris Johnson ideas (Ukrainian comedian set to have last laugh after first round of elections, 1 April).
Toby Wood
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
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