Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter writes that Seamus Mallon "has given this subject [Irish unity] considered cerebration ..." (Books Reviews, May 25th).
According to both my Oxford and Chambers dictionaries, cerebration means “brain-action (especially unconscious)”.
Is this what he actually intended to say? I hope he simply meant that Mr Mallon had given the matter much thought.
I suspect that, like many academics, Prof Ferriter could not resist the lure of a four-syllable word. – Yours, etc,
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LIAM McAULEY,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.