Sir: Mrs Hagan is quite right of course in her
castigation of the Prime Minister's misuse of " flaunt " for "flout" (Letters, February 3). for she surely cannot be allowed to get away with asking defenders of the English language to write on their ballot papers "It is necessary to FLOUT a Party . . . ." As I understand the word, to ' flout ' is to fly in the face of, or defy (an imposed restriction or rule or a convention) — with the implication that the speaker considers such disobedience reprehensible. It does not mean (as it surely must on Mrs Hagan's ballot-paper) to take issue with, take action against, or even subvert the purposes of (a political party).
But despite her flouting of the ordinary significance of a good English word, Mrs Hagan is to be commended for flaunting the standard of literacy even in the face of the highest in the land.
William P. Longland Flat 1, 38 Nightingale Lane, London SW12
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