Headlice are tiny creatures which are sometimes found on people’s heads or in their hair. The eggs that these creatures lay are called nits. Often we do not like to talk about such things. But it is a fact that most small children catch headlice at some time. One day, when my daughter was only 2 years old, we noticed that she was scratching her head. We looked closely and – ugh! – we found she had headlice. My wife went to the Chemist’s shop to buy a special shampoo to kill the headlice. My daughter went too. The Chemist’s shop was crowded, and there was a queue of people waiting to be served. My daughter sat happily in her buggy, holding her favourite doll. An old lady came up to her and smiled. “And what have you got, my dear”, she said. “I GOT LICE”, said my daughter in a loud voice. There was silence in the shop. Several people looked at their watches and realised that they had to be somewhere else very quickly! In about 20 seconds the shop was empty. If you ever feel that you too would like to do your shopping without lots of other people around, why not take a child with headlice with you!

　　Incidentally, do you know the word “lousy” in English? Literally, it means “infested with lice”. But in colloquial speech we use it to mean “bad” – the weather is lousy today, I got a lousy mark for my German homework, I’ve got a lousy headache, and so on.