Sir, - Those who say "comparisons are odious" are not, as Paul Delaney suggests (January 29th), misquoting Shakespeare. Those words were current as a proverb long before Shakespeare's day and occur in the works of a number of near contemporaries of his, such as John Donne and George Herbert.
The misquotation was perpetrated by the loquacious constable Dogberry in Much Ado, who constantly misuses words, and says "odorous" when he means "odious". - Yours, etc., Chalmers Trench,
Slane, Co. Meath.
