Dean Swift, too old and grumpy to recognise the genius of Handel's Messiah first performed in Dublin in 1742 by his choir among others, described in verse his legacy to St Patrick's Hospital ("a house for fools and mad") as showing by "one satiric touch, no nation wanted it so much", writes Martin Mansergh
A couple of Christmas cards received this year have, intentionally or otherwise, a "satiric touch". One was from our vet, a racing card depicting horses being ridden furiously up the hill, the reproduction of a print by equestrian artist Peter Curling. The title Getting Serious gave it, for this recipient at least, an application to forthcoming electoral contests.
Innocent of satire is a calendar from the mother-in-law in Scotland in aid of the Donkey Sanctuary. Donkeys with their gentle soulful look need do little to canvass the public's affections.
Just south of the border on the N1, there was an establishment with a mock Tudor exterior called "Ye Olde Border Inn".
Misnomers are part of everyday public discourse. Ireland is often referred to as a small island. Actually, Ireland is a large island, the third largest in Europe after Great Britain and Iceland.
Ulster or the province are neither accurate expressions, used synonymously with Northern Ireland. "Ulster is British" is an aggravating and bombastic claim, more than "Northern Ireland is British" would be, since nationalists identify reluctantly, if at all, with a UK regional identity.
Yet, in the Thomas Davis sense, unionist determination to remain "long a province" in the North seeks to be the foil to "a nation once again".
Unionists sometimes complain that the Republic appropriated the name of Ireland. In a letter of November 1921 to Sir James Craig, during the Treaty negotiations, reprinted in David Trimble's 1991 Ulster Society pamphlet The Foundation of Northern Ireland, Lloyd George responded to the unionist demand for equality with the South: "We could not reasonably claim place for two Irelands in the Assembly of the League of Nations or in the Imperial Conference. If Ireland is represented in either institution, it must be preferably Ireland as a whole, or, failing Ireland as a whole, the part of it which has the largest representation and area".
American presidents now refer to Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland, which is the description of the State, and Northern Ireland are an acceptable alternative to distinguish the two jurisdictions.
The Irish Republic, the term employed in the 1916 Proclamation and the 1919 Declaration of Independence, is now used mainly by the BBC and British print media, who, even after the Belfast Agreement sorted out recognition issues, decline to use the internationally recognised name of Ireland.
Éire, which appears appropriately on stamps, is used in an anglophone context by some unionists to belittle and keep in a timewarp this part of the island.
Northern nationalist reference to the Free State or the Dublin Government derives from some reluctance to recognise the 26 counties as the Republic.
The term British Isles has been used both as a political and as a geographical expression. "These islands" is fine for domestic use, but will not do for French or German weather forecasts, which refer to "les îles britannìques" or "den Britischen Inseln".
We have not pressed for an international alternative, such as islands of the North Atlantic, or, simply, Britain and Ireland.
Another old chestnut is that Britain and Ireland are foreign to each other, unionists being, if anything, even keener on this than republicans.
Yet both parliaments in Dublin and Westminster declared in 1949 that Britain and Ireland, constituting a common travel area, were not to be regarded by each other as foreign countries.
What then is their status? Separate and independent.
The fact that we are a republic and proud of it does not mean that we have to denigrate our neighbours' head of State, for example, by calling Britain's Queen Elizabeth "Mrs Windsor".
It is possible to be polite and friendly, without being fawning or sycophantic.
In the economic sphere, the biggest misnomer is the claim that we are the second wealthiest country in the European Union. This is to confuse a relatively- recent high income per head of population with accumulated wealth, where we are still quite far back.
There is no constitutional sanction for the expression "upper house" to be applied to Seanad Éireann, whereas there are obvious social reasons as to why historically the British House of Lords has been so considered. ("Bow, bow, ye lower middle classes! Bow, bow, ye tradesmen, bow ye masses", as WS Gilbert's libretto for Iolanthe so unmercifully represented it).
Interestingly, Dáil Éireann is described in the Constitution as a House of Representatives, making clear the American inspiration, not just the British one. Second chamber is a more sober and accurate description of the Seanad.
Alexander Pope in his verse translation of Homer's Iliad has the goddess Juno ascending from the plains of Troy to "the senate of the skies", inviting my wife's retort: "That means it's no bleeding earthly use!"
Swift's "one satiric touch" frequently applied helps keep democrats firmly grounded, and maintains healthy scepticism of anyone who seeks power by promising a reign of virtue.