I have noticed recently that certain contributors of this column use bombastic or, pompous words in their letters which seem to have been picked at random. These, on occasion, become out of context or are difficult to comprehend and are lost on lay people who would need to run for their dictionary.
The current trend is to use plain English – to write English as we speak and to avoid Pickwickian language. This reminds me of Mrs Malaprop in Richard Sheridan’s play “The Rivals”. For the uniniiated, Mrs Malaprop was characterised as someone who would use grand words in an inappropriate manner.
Our letters should focus on issues which concern us here in our country of residence and should be interesting and informative and contained within the words limit imposed by the editorial board. They should focus on issues which concern us here rather than placing too much emphasis on matters relating to our mother land.
The details provided in some of those letters are regurgitation of similar information whch could be gleaned at other pages in AV and GS. Also, be original rather than latching on to other contributors’ ideas. Long winded letters become boring and make me skim through them instead of digesting the contents.
There is a tool called “word count” on most computers and I would urge the compulsive long letter writers to make use of that and save us time in going through material which may be of little interest to many.
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
