'Mouse' is no acronym

Maria Firstl of Greece (January 17) takes issue with Joe Borg of Xgħajra (January 12) but appears to miss the point of his letter that is a plea for common sense and respect for other people's opinion.

I have long admired Mr Borg's excellent (if somewhat legalistic) style of English whilst Ms Firstl appears determined to denigrate that language and is not always herself both clear and idiomatic - though she aspires to be a professional translator.

To add to the confusion there have been letters from others on various aspects of translation and also bringing up the story of how the computer mouse acquired its name and its proposed terminology in Malta The computer mouse was invented by Douglas C. Engelbart around 1964 who named it for its resemblance to that rodent with its long tail.

"Mouse" is not an acronym because the description was devised later and though there are variants it is generally accepted to be "manually-operated user-select equipment". I concur with Mr Borg concerning the use of foreign words in Malta.