Madam, - In his Irishman's Diary of January 9th, Kevin Myers rallied at the increasing use of "politically correct" language to describe people with physical or mental disabilities, comparing the umbrage such people took at inappropriate terminology to a "sickly, creepy-crawly, tip-toeing sanctimony. . . on the prowl, yearning to be appalled, like a Victorian maiden on her hands and knees in the drawing-room, carefully examining the furniture for any sign of an offending leg".
To be sure, disabled people are sensitive about the words used to describe them or their conditions and Mr Myers provided us with the reason why they are so in his Diary of January 14th, when he called an unfortunate man who had his leg amputated by a train, "Hopalong". To a disabled person that is exactly the same, and as offensive and hurtful, as a person of African descent being called a "nigger", or an Irishman "Paddy", and it is why, in these more enlightened days, society is more sensitive and disapproving about the use of language.
In my experience it is usually those who have a history of using offensive epithets to describe minorities who are the first to gripe about no longer being able to do so; never those who have been, or are, on the receiving end. - Yours, etc.,
ED MOLONEY,
New York,
USA.