22 JUNE 1991, Page 31

Better news

Sir: David Parsons (Letters, 18 May) has either fallen into the etymological fallacy or failed to notice that English words often have more than one sense. Certainly, following its Latin source, 'nubile' means `(of a woman) marriageable', but it also means, '(of a woman) sexually attractive': see COD, OAD, et al.

Of course, many men do find fat women attractive, and no doubt some like them spotty too — Mr Parsons for one, apparently.

Robert Allen

4704 Chester Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA