A chara, – Frank McNally (An Irishman's Diary, September 7th) and Blair Noonan in a letter (September 16th) have mused on the origins of the genteel Rathmines accent – the Orr and Orr – and its Ascendancy overtones. This must have been lost on a certain CIÉ bus conductor in the early 1970s. As we journeyed home from school on the 15A bus, open at the rear, he'd stand at the stairs, thump the bell and announce the next stop as "Rat-moyens". As the bus proceeded, the bell would get a gentler bang from his fist as he announced the next stop, "Rothgor"! Terenure never got a mention. – Yours, etc,
TREVOR AUSTEN,
Dublin 14.