EXTENSIVE television coverage of the Olympics in Athens has provided me with a useful new word - "overpumped."

This was the term a commentator used when a weightlifter made a complete mess of his jerk, snatch or whatever after he had pratted about making fierce (and comical) attempts to summon up a missing inner force.

Maybe that was what was wrong with Paula Radcliffe.

All I know is that "overpumped" is a marvellous concept which is suitable for all manner of abject failures.

"Sorry, darling, the wallpapering in the lounge has gone wrong because I built myself up to a psychological peak and did not know how to stop. I was overpumped - you know how it is."

You see, overpumpees cannot be accused of not making the effort, even if they fail spectacularly.

While we are on this subject, I make the point that the BBC's saturation Olympic coverage has been generally impressive, if occasionally overpumped.

But reaction to the astonishing achievements of the England cricket team - seven consectutive Test victories against New Zealand and the West Indies - has been considerably underpumped in news bulletins.

No doubt this will change if the BBC ever reclaims transmission rights from Channel 4 and Sky.

Enough of that. The Calverts have just returned from a holiday in the Lake District. Yes, it was a tad damp at times and it can be a gloomy experience watching the rain beat down on the windscreen as you eat your picnic in the car park, listening to Radio Cumbria programmes about jam-making.

But, on the whole, we appreciated the absence of flash floods, landslips, Hurricane Charley, sewage-polluted beaches, forests hiding suspected murderers, plagues of poisonous weever fish and zealous French gendarmes supposedly keen to target speeding British holidaymakers.

The Keswick area was comparatively quiet during the fortnight we were there, although one poor chap was hit by lightning and some sodden caravanners were evacuated at 3am.

At other times the sun shone and we had time to reflect on the nature of the fellow tourists we encountered.

Southern accents seemed to predominate and we could not help but notice that most of the pubs have gone up-market to attract customers with spending power.

Once content with Cumberland sausage and chips, I found myself paying more than nine quid for "orange tamarind marinated leg of lamb steak with a chicory and panchetta salad, mustard, soy, sweet chilli and vinaigrette."

Very nice it was too, but the traditional Lakeland pub we used to frequent some 30 years ago looked something of a no-go zone for "locals".

Then again, they could be a dying breed in a part of the world where an ordinary three-bedroom semi is advertised at £305,000.

Finally, I quote this item from the Keswick Reminder without comment: "Having received reports of 20 drunken youths causing a nuisance in Keswick last Friday, police decided that no action was necessary after it was found that they were part of a rugby team from West Cumbria."