July 16, 2009

Dear Sir,

After reading the letter to the Editor "Her 'betes noires' by Jean Hannant, Pembroke today, I pulled out The Oxford Colour Dictionary and Thesaurus and looked up the word "presently" because I too use this word in the context which Ms Hannant claims is incorrect.

She stated that "presently" does not mean "now".

Either she is incorrect or the Oxford Dictionary is incorrect because my research indicates that "presently" is an adverb and it has two meanings:

1. soon.

2. (Sc. & US) now.

Although "currently" may be the better choice for Ms Hannant, I will continue to use the word "presently" as I so choose. I did, however, find the other information that she shared to be helpful.

JENNIFER CAINES

Devonshire