Is what is due, really owing?

THERE has been much in the media concerning the wave of unrest and there have been many notices displayed in libraries, offices etc stating that there is not business as usual “due to” whatever the cause, in this case a strike.

Unfortunately however, it would appear that, like the ubiquitous apostrophe before the letter “s” in nearly every word that ends in “s”, “due to” has replaced the correct usage of “owing to”.

The only things that are “due” are buses, trains and taxis, every other event is “owing to”.

There are other ways to say the same; “because of”, “as a result of” and so forth, but please, not “due to” any more.

Pointed points

From: D Birch, Smithy Lane, Cookridge, Leeds.

THIS letter has been caused by the new women’s shoes with a very high heel, that looked almost five inches, or 13 centimetres. They are priced in the upper end of £1,000 per pair.

Contemporary design is fine by me, but this sort of item will affect leg muscles/pulled guiders/broken ankles and problems with the backs of people who wear them. The £1,000 cost is also the equivalent of 20 per cent of the basic pension for one year.

It also shows the real difference in how the rich really push our noses into the ground.

Paying the price

From: Maxine Watt, Beeston, Leeds.

CAN we assume that if public servants are going to be expected to accept regional pay deals (Yorkshire Post, November 30), MPs whose constituencies are located in those regions will take an equivalent cut in salary?