A smidgen of doubt about Trump’s jibe | Brief letters

Nato ‘cowards’ | Duck dish | Measurements | Small amounts | Chelsea gnomes | Excuses | Floaters Perhaps Donald Trump might encourage his “cowardly” Nato colleagues by reminding them about his heroic efforts during the Vietnam war? (Anger grows among UK ministers amid fears Iran war could jeopardise Britain’s fragile finances, 21 March).Tony GreenIpswich My favourite cooking quantity (Letters, 19 March) comes from a wartime recipe for vegetarian duck. The first line reads: “Take a marrow about the size of a duck”.Laurie BailyWest Bridgford, Nottinghamshire Re units of measurement, I did a five-year apprenticeship in Birmingham as a precision gauge and toolmaker. If our work was within “a gnat’s knicker”, it was good enough.Simon HurdleyBridport, Dorset I see nobody has mentioned the smidgen yet – probably because everyone has a different opinion of what it measures.Bill DoddsNewcastle upon Tyne I was surprised to read this headline online: “Sex garden to ‘break taboos’ at Chelsea flower show as gnome ban ends” (19 March). Dare I ask what the gnomes will be doing? Talia HussainLondon When challenged over a screaming baby sister with a ring of tooth mar