From Mr A. Agius Cesareo

In his article “Save the real dghajsa” last Sunday, Charles Flores wrote that besides the word “daisa” (for dghajsa), the only other Maltese word to make it into the Concise Oxford Dictionary was “sahha” (goodbye), but I know of a third word.

In an edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of around 1965, which I no longer possess as it had to make way for later editions, there was the word “spitcher” whose derivation was the Maltese “spicca” (finish).

It was stated to be servicemen’s slang and its meaning was given as “finish off” or “annihilate” in a somewhat jocular sense, such as “If you do that to me again I’ll spitcher you”.

I was not aware that the word “daisa” appeared in the Concise Oxford Dictionary and I had thought that “sahha” and “spitcher” were the only two words of Maltese origin there, so it is gratifying to learn that the Maltese influence on the English language increase was 50 per cent greater than I had believed!

Regrettably though, in the dictionary’s 1991 edition none of the three words appear. Evidently they fell into disuse as the number of servicemen who served in Malta dwindled over the years.

Alex Agius Cesareo

KAPPARA