diff --git a/src/globals.h b/src/globals.h
index a1f48cc..a97b785 100644
--- a/src/globals.h
+++ b/src/globals.h
@@ -141,4 +141,5 @@ extern int	first_player;		// Who WAS the first player to go?
 extern bool	game_loaded;		// True if game was loaded from disk
 extern char	*game_filename;		// Game file filename
 
+
 #endif /* included_GLOBALS_H */
diff --git a/src/system.h b/src/system.h
index f10a322..f1c7bb7 100644
--- a/src/system.h
+++ b/src/system.h
@@ -50,9 +50,11 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <locale.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 #include <getopt.h>
 
diff --git a/src/trader.c b/src/trader.c
index 164941f..5d2f59a 100644
--- a/src/trader.c
+++ b/src/trader.c
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
     init_program_name(argv);
 
-    // Initialise the locale (and ignore any errors)
-    setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+    // Initialise the locale
+    if (setlocale(LC_ALL, "") == NULL) {
+	err_exit("could not set locale (check LANG, LC_ALL and LANGUAGE in environment)");
+    }
 
     // Process command line arguments
     process_cmdline(argc, argv);
@@ -114,12 +116,14 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	} else {
 	    wprintw(w2, "0%05o  ", c);
 	}
+
+	if (c == 0x1C) {
+	    err_exit("You pressed ^%c!", c + '@');
+	}
+
 	wrefresh(w2);
     }
 
-    delwin(w2);
-    delwin(w1);
-
     clear();
     refresh();
     endwin();
diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index 3269c3c..79112bb 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -215,3 +215,76 @@ char *intto_game_filename (const int game_num)
 	return p;
     }
 }
+
+
+/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+  Function:   err_exit   - Print an error and exit
+  Arguments:  format     - printf()-like format of error message
+              ...        - printf()-like arguments
+  Returns:    (does not return)
+
+  This function closes all curses windows, prints the name of the program
+  and the error message to stderr (using format and following arguments
+  as if passed to printf()) and exits with error code EXIT_FAILURE.  The
+  format supplied does NOT need to supply the program name nor the
+  trailing end-line character.  The format should not be NULL; user-
+  supplied strings should ALWAYS be printed using "%s" as the format (and
+  with the user string as a second argument), NOT passed in as the format
+  itself.
+*/
+
+void err_exit (const char *format, ...)
+{
+    va_list args;
+
+
+    clear();
+    refresh();
+    endwin();
+
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", program_name());
+    va_start(args, format);
+    vfprintf(stderr, format, args);
+    va_end(args);
+    fputs("\n", stderr);
+
+    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+}
+
+
+/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+  Function:   errno_exit   - Print an error (using errno) and exit
+  Arguments:  format       - printf()-like format of error message
+              ...          - printf()-like arguments
+  Returns:    (does not return)
+
+  This function closes all curses windows, prints the name of the
+  program, the error message (using format and following arguments as if
+  passed to printf()) and the string corresponding to errno to stderr,
+  then exits with error code EXIT_FAILURE.  The format supplied does NOT
+  need to supply the program name, any colons nor the trailing end-line
+  character.  The format may be NULL if no intermediate message is
+  needed.
+*/
+
+void errno_exit (const char *format, ...)
+{
+    va_list args;
+    int saved_errno = errno;
+
+
+    clear();
+    refresh();
+    endwin();
+
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", program_name());
+    if (format != NULL) {
+	va_start(args, format);
+	vfprintf(stderr, format, args);
+	va_end(args);
+	fputs(": ", stderr);
+    }
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", strerror(saved_errno));
+
+    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+}
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index b71e12a..cf462d5 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -53,5 +53,10 @@ extern const char *data_directory (void);
 extern char *strto_game_filename (const char *game_num);
 extern char *intto_game_filename (const int game_num);
 
+extern void err_exit   (const char *format, ...)
+    __attribute__((noreturn, format (printf, 1, 2)));
+extern void errno_exit (const char *format, ...)
+    __attribute__((noreturn, format (printf, 1, 2)));
+
 
 #endif /* included_UTILS_H */