Mind your language
THERE WAS a phrase in Mr Clinton's inaugural address that would have annoyed at least two lots of people (or constituencies as they now tend to be called) at once. It was: 'brave Ameri- cans serving in the Persian Gulf.
A growing proportion of the people of the United States are Hispanic. Not all of them have abandoned their Latin pride. Cynics might say that things were not helped by Vice-President Daniel Quayle apologising for not speaking Latin in Latin America. But Hispanics might still be atavistically annoyed, now that Mr Clinton is in office, by his refer- ence to Americans. To a Mexican or Haitian, for example, American includes them.
Persian Gulf is an even more vexed term. It used to be called the Arabian Gulf by some. The BBC dropped both adjectives and left us with the Gulf.
Countries are of course problematic. If there's a Persian Gulf, what's hap- pened to Persia? Why did Cambodia suddenly become Kampuchea? More absurdly, why did the dear old Daily Telegraph decide to adopt the name Myanmar? Do you know where that is? I'll tell you next week.
Dot Wordsworth
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