4 APRIL 1947, Page 17

THUMBS DOWN

Sta,—It was interesting to read, in this issue of The Spectator, your remarks upon the mistaken use of the terms "Thumbs up" and "Thumbs down," for I had always fallen into the error of thinking that the latter meant "K41 him." Turning to Lord Lytton's book, The Last Days of Pompeii, I found in Book 2, Chapter 1, that Burbo, the inn-keeper, says to Lydon, "If I press down my thumb to save you, may the Fates cut my thread!" So that in Lord Lytton's day the terms were used correctly. How the mistake originated I cannot think, except that in these days the English language is misused and distorted in every conceivable way.—