If looks could kill, I’d be in real trouble | Brief letters

Default facial expressions | Coffee thermometer | Quitting Britain | Nominative determinism delights

Adrian Chiles is lucky that his face is merely “miserable” ( I’ve spent my whole life looking miserable. It’s time for a change, 9 September ). On the advice of my estimable wife, when I introduce myself to new colleagues I alert them to the fact that if I look as though I want to kill them, it’s my default expression and I am merely thinking, not judging. Trevor Lawson Haddenham, Buckinghamshire

Since Oxford University, no less, tells us that it is now vital to know the temperature of hot drinks ( Drinking very hot drinks could triple risk of oesophageal cancer, study finds, 9 September ), I look forward to the delivery of my NHS coffee thermometer – and the award of next year’s Ig Nobel prizes. Anne Archer Oban, Argyll and Bute

It’s striking that billionaires departing the UK merit a headline ( Billionaire Chris Rokos, who paid £330m in tax last year, to quit UK, 8 September ), but the carers and their families, as well as couples who don’t meet the ever stricter financial rules for immigrants, do not. Claire Pillar Gaitsgill, Cumbria

On the nominative determinism debate ( Letters, 13 September ), I think we should now tie this correspondence up and put it back in its box. Christopher Packer London

My wife and I find we are generally far ahead in any nominative determinism game. David and Gisele Jones Glasgow

I am finding these letters very informative. Gill Learner Reading, Berkshire