A SHARP SPIRANT SOUND
Sta,—What can there be about the apparently simple word " hiss " that makes it such a pitfall to writers—even, it seems, to writers of the calibre of Mr. Harold Nicolson ? The dictionary definitions of " hiss " are surely just what one would expect: " to make a sibilant sound like that of the letter ' s,' as the goose, serpent, &c." ; " a sharp spirant sound of ' s.' " Yet writers persist in using the word when there isn't a solitary " s " in their sentence. Let Mr. Harold Nicolson himself prove it (The Spectator, October 17th, 1947): " Ruined,' one elderly expert hissed at me- ' ruined utterly; ruined beyond repair." The word " hiss " has evidently a malign capacity to render its users as hard of hearing as the celebrated deaf adder that stoppeth her ears.—Yours, etc., ELIOT FIELDEN. z6 Loughton Way, Buckhurst Hill, Essex.
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