Sir, – As use of the word “horrid” as something tantamount to a regionalised equivalent of “very” generates comment in recent letters, it’s curious to note how widely in Ireland the adjective or qualifier “fierce” is used in the same way. “A fierce nice” man could be said anywhere in the country without sounding odd, but isn’t heard in other countries.
A usage that has over the long term come to completely reverse its meaning is “terrific”. Its original links to the word “terrify” are fairly obvious, and in the context of a “terrific crash” as, say, PG Wodehouse might use it, seem fairly unremarkable. However, it seems particularly jarring in, for example, Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. In his story The Premature Burial, he describes being buried alive, among extreme human experiences as “beyond question the most terrific of these extremes”. Sounds pretty horrid to me. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
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Co Cork.
Sir, – In Donegal, the words “wild” and “fierce” are commonly and perhaps more descriptively used instead of the word “very”. “He was a wild nice fella, a wild gentle fella.”
Unfortunately, for those looking for weather to enjoy the magnificent Donegal landscape, the lesser-heard phrase “It was a wild calm day” is all too rare. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN BOYLE,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.