It’s over two years since I first wrote about the strange tics that only emerge when I’m in pain. I described then how instead of saying ‘Ouch’ I’d tic “Mystery.” I had no explanation for this then and I still haven’t now.

The phenomenon’s continued but the Tourettes for ‘Ouch’ has evolved. Here’s a list of its mutations in order of appearance:

“Mystery”
“Minty”
“Miso”
“Management issue”

And most recently, “Mini”

It was this morning that I realised this latest version had arrived after I woke up with a bit of a backache, presumably the result of my rock and roll antics yesterday.

The pain wasn’t bad enough for me to mention it to Leftwing Idiot when he arrived at the castle this morning. In fact there was no need to because he soon asked me why I was repeatedly saying “Mini”, and what was hurting.

There are many strange aspects of Tourettes but this is certainly one of the features I find most baffling and amusing. I was thinking about it as we headed to work this morning, trying to imagine what the next word would be. I might even suggest to Leftwing Idiot that he starts taking bets. What are the odds it’s another word beginning with M?