Latin comprehension

Otempora, o mores. A government watchdog thinks Latin (and some French) words are so difficult for people to understand that they must no longer be used for fear of “alienating” the public. In a style guide issued to its staff, the Information Commissioner’s Office is happy with such linguistic imports as “bungalow” and “graffiti”, but draws the line at “sine qua non” or “en route”. These should be phased out, it says, in the same way the legal world has dropped many of its Latin phrases. Perhaps if the ICO is so keen on not confusing people it can prevail upon other Whitehall departments and agencies to dump the jargon that most of us find far harder to comprehend than if it were written in Sanskrit.