16 JANUARY 1932, Page 19

EROS

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—NOW that Eros, bowstring and all, will soon be pirouetting --we hope for good—over the nave of our world, could not a determined effort to pronounce his name correctly be made by the thousands who possess the necessary knowledge ? To hear the ineffably delicious I,mr corrupted into the utterly misleading 4per causes—or ought to cause—an acute pang to anyone who has touched the fringe of Greek. A pronuncia- tion meaning " belonging to spring " has only gained such deplorably wide currency because some people are afraid they may sound pedantic by speaking correctly. Even the B.B.C.

announcers suffer. from this diffidence ! Away with " of spring," however apparently appropriate, and give back to us the authentic " love." Thus misused the no less lovely ipos incurs the danger of seeming a cacophonous interloper.—I am,