ON Graeme Robertson’s question of what plural should be used for the word referendum, it’s befitting that the word itself be a contentious issue, even being discussed by Parliament back in 1998 (Letters, September 4).

The OED states: “Referendums is logically preferable as a plural form meaning ballots on one issue (as a Latin gerund, referendum has no plural). The Latin plural gerundive referenda, meaning things to be referred, necessarily connotes a plurality of issues.”

So for Brexit it would be correct to use referendums, but then what about those claiming they don’t want a second referendum, but a first on the terms of EU exit?

As they are presently a hot topic, we may need a new word for talking about plebiscites in general, ie where we talk of multiple votes on multiple issues.

I’d like to propose the invention of a new word, referendas (ending pronounced like Eastenders) for relating to such a scenario.

For example we would say; “We don’t want to keep having referendums on the EU”, “Britain has held several referenda in the last decade”, and “referendas are the purest form of democracy”.

That would be in keeping with the existing OED convention, combines both the sound of old Latin and modern English, and thus hopefully both sides of the debate may be content.

Dr Scott Marmion, Woodthorpe, York