“Yeah, nice picture. When I was a kid, moving with my family back from Vancouver, we took the train, and we booked passage from Vancouver to Westmount — not Montreal (Windsor Station, which was the next stop). That was 1971.

I more or less like your blog. But I will stop visiting if you don’t stop your reprehensible habit of putting an accent on the first E of Montreal.

It’s incomprehensible. Why would you do that? That letter (the e with an accent, which has its own name in French and is not considered the same as a regular E — they pronounce “e” euh; and “e-with-the-accent-aigu” eh.

Stop and go back and delete the accents. It’s like we don’t belong in Montreal. You are on the wrong side with this evil habit of yours.”

***

This comment is attributed to a Snead Nesbitt.

I’ve never had a comment like this. Judge for yourselves.

Where to begin?

Montréal is a French name, and according to English usage rules, it’s appropriate to use the accent.

And I’m half English and half French, so I feel pretty comfortable expressing myself in both languages. You know, the two official languages of Canada.

I like how I’m both incomprehensible and reprehensible. Someone was using a thesaurus no doubt.

And Windsor Station is in Montréal, not Westmount.