A smidgen of doubt about Trump’s jibe | Brief letters

. UK edition

President Trump pictured after meeting Nato colleagues earlier this year
President Trump pictured after meeting Nato colleagues earlier this year. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Brief letters: Nato ‘cowards’ | Duck dish | Measurements | Small amounts | Chelsea gnomes | Excuses | Floaters

Perhaps Donald Trump might encourage his “cowardly” Nato colleagues by reminding them about his heroic efforts during the Vietnam war? (Anger grows among UK ministers amid fears Iran war could jeopardise Britain’s fragile finances, 21 March).
Tony Green
Ipswich

• My favourite cooking quantity (Letters, 19 March) comes from a wartime recipe for vegetarian duck. The first line reads: “Take a marrow about the size of a duck”.
Laurie Baily
West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire

• Re units of measurement, I did a five-year apprenticeship in Birmingham as a precision gauge and toolmaker. If our work was within “a gnat’s knicker”, it was good enough.
Simon Hurdley
Bridport, Dorset

• I see nobody has mentioned the smidgen yet – probably because everyone has a different opinion of what it measures.
Bill Dodds
Newcastle upon Tyne

• I was surprised to read this headline online: “Sex garden to ‘break taboos’ at Chelsea flower show as gnome ban ends” (19 March). Dare I ask what the gnomes will be doing?
Talia Hussain
London

• When challenged over a screaming baby sister with a ring of tooth marks on her tummy (Letters, 20 March), I said I wanted to see what she was made of.
Mary Ibbotson
Bridport, Dorset

• “Unpleasant floater? (4)” (Quick crossword, 18 March) – I have to admit, “scum” wasn’t the first word that sprang to mind.
Cherry Weston
Wolverhampton

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