bolshie

At last he's met a woman who's even bolshier and more bull-headed than he is - and who doesn't give a monkey's what he thinks.

This means he will have the task of steering all Gordon Brown's new policies through some of Labour's bolshier backbenchers.

But the danger with such hyperbole, of course, is that they're lining themselves up to be shot at by critics quick to build them up and knock them down, as for everyone who hails them as a visit to the rougher, rawer, bolshier end of Britpop there's another bemoaning they're over-reliance on attitude over actual songwriting substance.

It was a typically quiet month for music, but there were still some big releases to get excited about ( Christina Aguilera went back to the 30s and 40s for inspiration for her latest album, Kasabian came back bolshier and better, while Bob Dylan got his best reviews for years.

And you can follow it up with a bolshier British sibling, Hit the Lights from London's Weird Beard brewery - though at 6.3% in a big bottle, it's not one you can drink all day.