Columnist admits using 'schizophrenic' was wrong

Columnist don't often admit they are wrong, but Brian Viner in the Independent does today.

He writes: "Having dished out some stern rebukes, I perhaps ought to show that I can take as well as give. In a column on Monday, commenting on the great hopes of British sport, and in particular the defeated Andy Murray, I asserted that we Brits have a "schizophrenic" attitude to the chances of world domination by our sporting men, women and teams: part-Eeyore and part-Tigger, we tend towards extreme pessimism until we're offered grounds for optimism, and then we get terribly over-excited.

"Two readers emailed to admonish me for my use of the word "schizophrenic". 'I cannot imagine that you'd compare Murray's loss to cot death or a model's wiry frame to an Aids sufferer,' wrote Nicholas Hunt. 'Some things just aren't appropriate.' Mr Hunt added that I could have used plenty of other words to illustrate my point, and accused me of inaccuracy, insensitivity and laziness. It's a fair cop. I won't do it again."