J'ACCUSE
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Memories of Mr. A. P. Herbert's famous "Word War" prompt me to protest violently against the horrible word " Decasualisation," which I find twice in the paragraph headed "The Dockers' Pay" in your "News of the Week," p. 299, of your issue of August 20th.
Is it necessary to go out of your way to coin such clumsy and painful words ? I frankly accuse you of inventing this word, from a non-existent noun, " casualisation " (state of having been rendered casual ?), derived from a non-existent verb " casualise "(to render casual ?), which—the final horror— you further mutilate by prefixing with a There is much that I admire in your paper, and I look to it to preserve good English in its columns, but " decasualisation " is not good English, but sloppy, long-winded journalese of the lowest type.—Yours faithfully, E. B. MARTINO. Landfall, Crawley Down, Sussex.
[The Concise Oxford Dictionary, p. 292 : " DECASUALISE, v.t. Do away with the casual employment of (labour). Hence n. nEcAsuALisATioN." And a very useful word, too.—En The Spectator.]
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