A BRITISH Airways survey says Americans find the Glaswegian accent the sexiest in Britain. But not everyone is convinced. On one (English) newspaper site, a reader responds sceptically: "Was this survey done, by any chance, in First or Business class, where the alcohol is free?"

WE asked for the phrases that make your heart sink.

* Daniel McColgan suggests "To cut a long story short," on the grounds that the story is seldom short

* John Dunlop nominates "Games legacy"

* Gilbert MacKay says: "I'm currently losing my hair over 'Upgrading Windows ... Sit back and relax.' On my fifth hopeless mission at the moment"

* John Marshall: "'Can I help you with anything else?' - particularly annoying when they did not help with your original query"

* Jack Mair: "When a football commentator announces, 'We still have a mathematical chance of making the finals'

More on Monday. Apologies in advance if that makes your heart sink. ("No comment" - Herald Ed.)

READER Ron Beaton, spotting a Herald news story headlined "Pigeon thief admits taking racing birds", makes a public appeal to the thief, begging him to bear in mind, in the years to come, the proverb: "Doo unto others as you would hope that they would doo unto you."

IF you happened to read Ken Smith's picture story about the old Hillman Imp, and wondered why the car is no longer with us, the Diary thinks Jenny Taggart may have the answer. She says: "I was peacefully driving my red, rear-engine Hillman Imp on one of those distant pre-seat belt days, with my six-year-old son kneeling on the back seat looking out of the window. 'Mummy', he asked, 'should there be flames coming out of the boot?'"

AN INTERESTING insight into the life of singer-songwriters has come to light on Glasgow Blues Club's Facebook page.

After Damien Johanssen posted a clip of him performing a song, one blues fan observed: "Whit a load of p***". Damien, showing commendable restraint, replied: "I'm all for constructive criticism dude, but that's just a bit harsh."

The fan, undaunted, retorted that this was the Glasgow 'Blues' Club and that Damien's song was "pop p***".

And so it continued, back and forth, with Damien correcting his critic's spelling of "mosque", saying there was no need for nasty comments, and finally thanking him for his feedback.

"That's me being polite and honest," the blues fan said. "It's not very polite dude, but yeah... Thanks," replied Damien.