Sir, - The scariest thing about October isn’t the costumes or the fireworks - it’s hearing people say Holloween. Hollow? The only thing hollow is the sound of that missing “a.”
The word is Halloween, from All Hallows Eve. Change the vowel and you’ve drained the word of its meaning, like a pumpkin with no candle inside. It’s meant to be full of history and tradition, not linguistically emptied out.
We’ve managed to keep the costumes, the sweets, and the fireworks intact. Surely, we can manage to keep one small vowel. - Yours, etc,
HARVEY HEAVENER,
RM Block
Rahaval Hall,
Redcross,
Co Wicklow.
