Madam, - Who are the "ordinary" people to whom politicians and other commentators are so fond of referring? My dictionary defines "ordinary", inter alia, as "plain", "undistinguished", "commonplace", "of common rank" etc., while Roget's Thesaurus lists a large number of alternative adjectives virtually all of which are disparaging in tone.
Could it be that those who use the word "ordinary" in this context are implying they are members of an élite and that all others are lesser beings? - Yours, etc.,
M.D. KENNEDY, Silchester Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.