17 AUGUST 1991, Page 24

Surprise, surprise

Sir: I am not sure that you are right in condemning the use of 'surprise' as an adjective (Diary, 3 August). Does it not have a distinct meaning of its own, suggest- ing that what it describes surprises us by merely happening or existing rather than by the form it takes? A surprise party, for example, is one that is sprung on you without warning; a surprising party is one at which there are unexpected develop- ments.

Keith Norman

Dumpton School, Deans Grove House, Wimborne, Dorset