Sir, – I notice the four-letter expletive that begins with the letter “f” and ends with the letter “k” which appeared in Dónal Óg Cusack’s courageous piece (Opinion Analysis, August 27th) contained no asterisks. Are such typographic symbols reserved for insertion in such ultra-coarse words as “w**ker” (Front page, August 24th)? – Yours, etc,
A chara, – As Donal Óg Cusack’s piece on the reasons for his coming out was an “edited extract” of an address he gave, one might ask why the expletive commonly referred to as the “f-word” was not edited out. If we have reached the point where that kind of language is found to acceptable for the pages of The Irish Times, then perhaps a campaign is required to stamp out its use in the public arena. – Is mise,