Madam, - Although I am sure you would not wish to be accused of being pedantic, it is high time you delivered a sharp memorandum to all those in The Irish Times who set finger to key that the word "plethora" means "excess" or "unpleasant surfeit" and is not just a scholarly alternative for "a lot of". - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL MAHONY, Coogue South, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.