21 NOVEMBER 1931, Page 50

THE "SPECTATOR" AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE [To the Editor of

the SPECTATOR.] submit that it is perfectly legitimate to write of an abominable piece of bad English or bad manners or bad reasoning. There is no tautology ; " abominable" means detestable," which is a different notion from " bad."

Mr. F. Loftus Wigram's request for information as to what an abominable piece of good English is like seems to me irrelevant. Still, I reply that a piece of good English may be abominable because it is perverse or unjust or immoral or for many other reasons. I am even entitled, in the fury of controversy, to consider his letter as a case in point.—I am,