" BRITISHER "
SIR,—" On what analogy, and with what excuse," asks Janus in your issue of August 27th, "can the termination 'er' be affixed to ' British ' ? And what would be the natural meaning if it were ? " Finding no analogy, no excuse and no natural meaning, he dismisses the word " Britisher " as "hideous," " indefensible " and having "no conceivable justification at all."
Now, Sir, a word which conveys a common meaning to all who hear it fulfils its purpose, and need not be further justified. The meaning of "Britisher," established by long usage, is clear to everybody. It is quite otherwise with "Briton," which Janus offers as a substitute. The Waverley Modern English Dictionary defines a Britisher as simply "a native of Britain," but a Briton is described in the same paragraph as "a native of Britain or of the British Empire ; a member of the race inhabiting south Britain at the Roman invasion." I would therefore submit, Sir, that although " Briton " may be pure, " Britisher " is plain, and if Janus prefers purity to. clarity he is, as indeed I have long suspected, a pedant.—! am, Sir, &c., R. E. KITCHING. Inglewood, Wetherby, Yorkshire.
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