Participle and Noun
SIR,-- Janus should be more careful of his facts. I did not use the word " bugger " in my translation of Plautus. I used the phrase " buggering off," a common colloquialism for going away, in use throughout this country. Janus knows perfectly well that the word has two quite distinct meanings. Dr. Johnson defined its other one as a term of endearment—a use common enough in the Midlands and North and used without offence by parents to their children.
Had I been using the word to denote a form of sexual aberration perhaps Janus might have more reasonable ground for complaint. As it stands in its context its meaning is quite clear, and in fairness to the B.B.C. and to the producer of the play I would ask you to print this letter and remove more " needless mystery."—Yours, &c., Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, W.I. PATRIC DICKINSON. [Janus writes: I am afraid the fine distinction between the noun and the participle had escaped me.]
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