QUIRKY WORLD ... Mother of mouthfuls: Daenerys a tough one to say

ENGLAND: Don Quixote, Daenerys Targaryen — from Game of Thrones — and Oedipus have topped a poll of literary names people struggle to say correctly.

The study follows Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s recent disclosure that Voldemort is actually pronounced ’Vol-De-Mor’ with a silent T.

A survey of 2,000 people aged 18 to 65, conducted by digital audiobook retailer Audible, found 39% have pronounced the names of literary characters incorrectly.

Once more into the wreck

ENGLAND: A historic wreck thought to be a 600-year-old ship that helped Henry V wage war on France has been identified in an English river.

The shipwreck, buried in mud in the River Hamble in Hampshire, is believed to be the Holigost — or Holy Ghost — the second of four “great” ships built for Henry V’s royal fleet, government heritage agency Historic England said.

The wreck was first spotted from an aerial photograph by historian Ian Friel, in an area described as a medieval breaker’s yard, next to Henry’s flagship, the Grace Dieu, which was identified in the 1930s. Historic England is taking steps to protect and investigate the shipwreck.

Money curries

ENGLAND: Curry-loving Britons could find themselves spending over £300 (€405) a year enjoying their favourite takeaways, research suggests.

Research for Nationwide Building Society Current Accounts found consumers enjoy an average of three takeaways a month, with people spending £9.41 each time they have a curry.

Based on these average figures, people could find themselves spending nearly £340 a year if they have a curry each time they fancy a takeaway, the research, released to mark National Curry Week, found.

Inmates’ coats for homeless

USA: Hundreds of winter coats earmarked for inmates near Philadelphia will instead warm the homeless because they arrived in a too-familiar shade of prison blue.

Officials say the tan coats they ordered for the Bucks County Jail arrived in a shade similar to the coats worn by guards.

So women inmates in Doylestown, Bucks County, have helped with some tailoring. The 400 coats now have a new flap over the word “inmate” and are on their way to homeless shelters and outreach programmes, the Bucks County Courier Times reports.

County spokesman Chris Edwards said the county will not have to pay for the items because of the shipping error.

Mac and cheese fundraiser

USA: University of Connecticut students are trying to use an embarrassing video about macaroni and cheese to raise a little cheddar.

The video of a fellow student berating food service workers who refused to sell him jalapeno-bacon mac and cheese prompted a group of students to start an online fundraiser to give the beleaguered employees a well-deserved night out.

“A top-20 research university shouldn’t have to be redeeming its name after one bad egg goes and ruins our reputation,” said freshman Sadie Rumsey.

Rumsey and her friends set up a GoFundMe.com page to show their support for the workers abused in the video captured inside the university’s student union last week. As of yesterday, the page had collected over $1,300 (€1,143).

The nine-minute, obscenity-laced clip posted online shows Luke Gatti, 19, arguing with and eventually shoving Dave Robinson, a food service supervisor.

Police and the manager said Gatti was refused service on October 4 for carrying an open alcohol container. The video s hows the student questioning why in America he can’t have beer in the building. He uses a gay slur against Robinson and repeatedly saying: “Just give me some fucking bacon-jalapeno mac and cheese.”