On a recent visit to France, we bought a packet of BNs, or Biscuiterie Nantais biscuits, consisting of two layers of crust sandwiching various flavoured fillings, a little like custard creams with smiley faces. They have not been sold in the UK since 2000, when United Biscuits sold the brand back to Lefèvre-Utile. There is even a "Bring back BNs!" Facebook page, with 659,000 followers.
My family informed me the name is intended to suggest the affirming French word "bien", but I prefer to think they were designed for the French mathematician, Jaques Tits, who devised the powerful concept of a (B,N) - pair for studying linear algebraic groups. Tits, Belgian by birth, was obliged to change his nationality in order to teach in the Collège de France.
A (B,N)-pair?
