10 SEPTEMBER 1948, Page 17

BRITISHER "

SIR,—De gustibus—I suspect Janus's taste is not purely pedantic. "Britisher " is a North-Americanism. In whatever sense it may have been used by the United States originally, it was not seldom accompanied by an uncomplimentary epithet, to wit, " god-darned," and the adjective brands the noun. If we think Britisher sounds better than Briton and can ignore the implication, it will remain in our speech, but do not let us be misled into thinking its meaning more precise than Briton. I won- der whether Dr. Malan, for example, or Mr. Nehru, would wish to be known as Britons, meaning (according to The Waverley Dictionary) a