Oxymoron alert as German economic slowdown accelerates | Brief letters

Oxymoron corner | Front-page news | Charity shop ethics | Churchill’s imitators | Clare in the Community

Your article (Eurozone economy almost stalls amid trade decline and Brexit fears, 24 September) says Germany “has had a year-long slowdown that has recently accelerated”. Really? I think I know what it’s supposed to mean, but perhaps it’s time for the Guardian to inaugurate an oxymoron corner like the one for homophones.
Terry Melville
Pudsey, West Yorkshire

• What is this tucked away on page 40 in the Financial pages (‘Robbery of the century’: Whiz-kid comes clean in court, 21 September). Shouldn’t this be on the front page of every newspaper in the land? Headline: “City boys ‘helped to steal £53bn’”.
Maggie Ryan
Solihull, West Midlands

• Stephanie White (Letters, 25 September) is right that profiting from an underpriced charity shop item is unethical. However, I once spotted a rare book in a window for £4. I told the staff its real value. A week later it was still there at the same price. So I bought it. Fair game.
Andrew Vincent
Westmancote, Worcestershire

• Albert Finney, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Cox, Christian Slater, David Ryall, Gary Oldman, Ian McNeice, John Lithgow, Rod Taylor, Simon Ward, Timothy Spall… It seems to me that the “inimitable” Churchill (TV previews, G2, 25 September) has been imitated quite often.
Copland Smith
Manchester

• I very much enjoyed Harry Venning’s Clare in the Community cartoon (25 September) about the “People Who Don’t Find Fleabag Funny” support group. How do I join, please?
Bridget Marrow
Pinner, London

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