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Sir: May I clear up this 'obverse' business once for all?
Taking all the literary gentlemen in turn: (a) 'obverse' does not mean 'reverse'. There- fore Messrs Reid and Ashbrook are rightly condemned by Mr Weidberg (Letters, 23 May).
(b) The obverse of 'delicacy' is not 'delicacy', on any reasoning. Therefore Mr Weidberg is confused.
(c) Mr Larkin (Letters, 30 May), although appreciating that 'obverse' is the opposite of 'reverse'. must not counsel us to 'stick' with the confused Mr Weidberg.
(d) Mr Bone escapes unstained as far as quoted.
(e) 'Obverse' is not synonymous with 'opposite' which is the only construction of Messrs Cary and Ormerod's verbal hocus-pocus which would not make non- sense.
(f) You, sir, may be excused for relying on the Shorter OED. that institutional work which justifies a thousand and one atrocities. It quotes a usage originating, it seems, with some johnny in 1862, which gentleman, whoever he was, deserves nothing but con- tempt for writing 'obverse' when he meant, not 'reverse', but 'opposite'.
(g) 'Obverse' quite obviously connotes 'complement' (which is more accurate a word than 'counterpart') as in the following sentence taken from L. T. Hobhouse's Elements of Social Justice (which I happen to be reading):
'[Al guaranteed system of liberties is ... the obverse of an enforceable system of restraints.'
This example. taken at random. seems to me to be the commendable usage.
I trust that all is now finally clear. I am glad to have been of service.
Patrick Nealon Muirhill Avenue. Muirend, Glasgow
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