Sir, - The pompous letter from F. Lowe (May 30th) on "Plural Gerunds" demands a response. Such a superior position as he/she assumes requires absolute correctness, anything else invites ridicule. I believe F. Lowe is mistaken in his/her assertion that "Referendum is, of course a gerund, a verbal noun."
A gerund is a verb which performs as a noun (or substantive) and is similar to a participial noun. It is identical in form with any participle, simple or compound, that contains the termination "-ing", e.g. in the sentence "walking is a healthy pastime", "walking" is a gerund. Since "referendum" is a common noun it can have no participial form and so cannot be a gerund.
F. Lowe seems to be guilty of his/her own charge of demonstrating "ignorance of the worst kind, namely pseudoscholarship."- Yours, etc.,
Don Heenan,
Rathvilly, Co Carlow.