O'Keeffe's star burning bright but it has all happened very quickly for him

Some years ago this column stopped using meteoric as an adjective to describe an emerging star’s rapid ascent. It was usually deployed to illustrate a precocious young rider’s whirlwind arrival, but somewhere along the way a strict interpretation of its definition played on my conscience. Or maybe just an accurate interpretation.

Meteors do not rise, they fall. On entering the earth's atmosphere, they burn bright across the night sky before disintegrating, yet over time meteoric has acquired a meaning quite the opposite to its origins.

On reflection, it might just be better utilised in retrospective terms, and it may even be that a subconscious influence is often at play when it is used to describe someone or other’s rapid progress; the suspicion that a shooting star will, invariably, come crashing down to earth if it doesn’t completely disintegrate along the way. Apologies for such a bleak outlook, but it’s an informed perspective. We’re all doomed.