Madam, - The heading on your report of a tragic road accident reads: "Mirror may have saved pensioner" (April 17th). As the report makes clear, there was no mirror and the victim was not saved.
Whoever wrote the heading should be reminded that, when one is speculating about the unchangeable past, might is right. May leaves alternative possibilities open, so it should not be used in relation to past occurrences whose course and outcome are known with certainty.
Sadly, this misused may has been blooming lately. I recall
seeing in your columns a heading on the lines of: "Leinster may
have won with O'Driscoll", when it was well known that the
province's star player had been unable to turn out and the team had
been beaten! - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DRURY,
Avenue Louise,
Brussels.