World briefs

Distinctive black aluminium finger signs which have directed Londoners and tourists to world famous landmarks including Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park are to be auctioned.

Estimates range from £20 to more than £1,000 for each of the 362 signs, which include those which have directed tourists to Madame Tussauds, the Royal Academy of Arts and the London Aquarium.

Also being auctioned at Summers Place Auctions in West Sussex on May 21 will be a limited number of enamelled road signs, including for Abbey Road and Downing Street. The sell-off comes as Westminster City Council and Transport for London upgrade signposting in the capital to make directions more user-friendly.

Jazz-age modern jargon

Blotto teenagers owe a debt to 1920s America, according to a new study of how the era influenced the words we use today.

The Jazz Age – back in fashion thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s remake of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby – is responsible for dozens of popular words and phrases. Among the words chronicled by Fitzgerald in a series of stories and novels are “mass media”, “cold turkey” and “sub prime”.

Academic Sarah Churchwell, an expert on Fitzgerald and professor of American literature at the University of East Anglia, said the 1920s saw an explosion of new words and phrases to reflect a growing obsession with money, sex and celebrity culture. Her new book, Careless People – Murder, Mayhem And The Invention Of The Great Gatsby, explores the origin of phrases including “French kiss” and “off the rack”.

Wills and Kate expecting

A pair of amorous penguins named after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are imitating the royal couple as they prepare for their first offspring this summer.

Gentoo penguins William and Kate’s two eggs are being carefully incubated by the first-time parents at London Aquarium. They are expected to hatch in June, slightly ahead of the Duchess’s July due date.

Aquarist Lucy Buckley said staff would be keeping a “close eye” on both penguins over the 40-day incubation period. The pair coupled up during the mating season last April and came together again this year to successfully mate, the aquarium said.

Safari guide’s last charge

A safari lodge company based in South Africa has sacked a field guide who was filmed charging on foot towards an elephant.

An online video showed the man running at an elephant in a game reserve while his friends cheered and laughed. The elephant stood its ground, ears flapping, and then retreated.

The Singita company said it investigated the video and dismissed the guide.

Shopfront frozen in time

A shopfront has been left frozen in time for more than a decade after its owner left it exactly as it was on the last day of business.

Brian Moore took over George Moore Menswear in Bowes Park, northwest London, after his father passed away in 1969.

But when it came time for his own retirement 12 years ago, Mr Moore could not bring himself to clear out the family shop, so left everything exactly as it was.

The store has remained untouched and has since become an unusual relic of the fashion of the day.