Patrick Abdalla reminded me on Facebook this morning that March is nearly upon us, time to counter the ignorance that besmirches St. Patrick's Day.
For ONE MORE TIME, the familiar term for the saint's day is St. Paddy's Day, not St. Patty's Day. St.Patty's Day is no more than you would expect from ersatz Irish who drink watery American beer dyed green.
Paddy is the diminutive form of Padraic, the Irish form of the name Patrick. Patty is the diminutive form of Patricia. Do try to grasp that.
Paddy is also a generic term for an Irishman. It survives in the ethnic slur paddy wagon, for police patrol wagon, which arose from nineteenth-century prejudice assuming that the Irish get drunk and violent every payday.
I assume that on Twitter @paddynotpatty is prepared to swing into action.
Do not tolerate the prevalence of ignorance.
And treat yourself to a reviving pint of Guinness or Smithwick's. Slainte.
Also, a four-leaf clover is a sign of spring, not St. Patrick. It is not the same as a shamrock, which has three leaves (or leaflets), and is associated with Patrick.
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