The recent Swine Flu scare reminded us all that pigs oink in Mexico, as they do in most of the world. But if the Influenza had started in, for example, Albania, the source of our worries would be happily hunk-hunking away.

Dogs are amazingly multi-lingual.

While you hear them going woof-woof in the USA or the UK, they go guau-guau in Mexico. Catalunian doggies go bup-bup and man’s best friend says wang-wang in China.

Slovenian dogs hov-hov, while the Ukranians haf-haf. If you go to Iceland you will hear them go voff, in Indonesia it’s a gong-gong and in Italian a bellisimo bau-bau.

And that leaves me with the annoying gav-gav coming from my neighbour’s yard and which didn’t let me sleep last night.

The little beast’s barking was loud and clearly Greek.

I truly went cuckoo, which, by the way, seems to be the only way a cuckoo goes anywhere in the world.