I AM surprised to learn there is no English equivalent of the Acadmie Franaise (Letters, June 27).

I have always assumed that somewhere there must be some decayed, archaic seat of cob-webbed pedantry, dedicated to the preservation of obsolescent grammar by compulsion. Otherwise, on whose authority do those censorious correspondents write who continually fret and complain because a dynamic world language cannot be constrained within the dilapidated palisade of their rusty rules?

William Dixon Smith,

Welland Rise,

Acomb, York.

...I wish I had read Michael McCulloch's original list of pet hates relating to misuse of our once lovely English language.

I wonder if it included the mis-uses which I find grate so much: using nouns as verbs, such as "party."

A party is an event, and you do not "party": you go to one.

"Red" or "yellow card". A footballer who misbehaves is given one of these as a penalty - he is not "red-carded" or "yellow-carded".

"Parent". A parent is a father or mother, so they care for children, they do not "parent" them.

The words "father" or "mother" can be used as verbs, but according to the Oxford Dictionary, the word "parent" is a noun only. Other things about speech that I find irritating is the constant use of certain words, such as "basically" - often sentences are peppered with this word. I also dislike Americanisms such as 'gotten" which surely has no place in English as it should be spoken.

It has been pointed out that sometimes to start a sentence with "and" or "but" adds to the power of the words following.

While accepting this, I believe it should be possible to use strong enough words to make a point forcefully without starting a sentence with these words.

Heather Causnett,

Escrick Park Gardens,

Escrick, York.

...PARDON my pedantry, but I must take you to task for twice spelling incorrectly the word openness (Powers that be, Evening Press, June 30). Both misspellings were writ large.

To parody Oscar Wilde: to misspell once is unfortunate, but to repeat the misspelling is unforgivable carelessness.

I encourage my 11-year-old grandson to read your newspaper, not only to keep abreast of local and national news and views but to improve his spelling, grammar and syntax.

So the misspelling of simple words is totally unacceptable.

Clearly, your editorial socks need pulling up.

John Tierney,

Grayshon Drive,

Acomb, York.