Bad grammar in a unionist leader could be seen by political rivals as weakness
A letter from George McNally:
Does grammar proclaim the man or woman?
Edwin Poots the new leader of the DUP, is prone to grammatical solecisms.
Recent examples are:
1. In replying to Tara Mills (BBC Evening Extra, May 18) on events leading to the ousting of Arlene Foster he said: “Speculate who done what.”
• See below Ben Lowry on bad grammar
2. On the RTÉ News (9 pm) during an interview about the Northern Ireland Protocol he remarked: “Things have went too far.”
3. On the Nolan Show (May 19) in a past clip about relationships with Sinn Fein he shouted: “I hold my nose about what has went on in the past.”
4. On Nolan Show (May 20) he said: “I don’t believe that [the report] has went into the detail in an appropriate way ...” and “... the people [at] that funeral were wrong in what they done ...”
5. Later in a chat about Arlene Foster’s departure he comments: “Every political leader who has went.”
My concern is that with tough negotiations coming about the future of Northern Ireland a unionist leader’s solecisms will be detected as a sign of weakness by political opponents skilled in concealing true motivations and aims.
Grammatical conventions (note that I don’t use the word ‘rules’) change with time and daily conversations are less rigorous than the written word.
George McNally, Londonderry
• Ben Lowry in 2012: The epidemic of bad grammar in Northern Ireland politics
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