Consider a comment made last year from Professor Kathleen Lynch. The professor emerita of equality studies at University College Dublin stated that she was “ashamed to be Irish” because of the way asylum seekers are being treated. She was recently appointed to the Council of State by President Connolly. Emerita is the female version of the masculine emeritus. The term is often applied on an honorary basis to retired professors.
Lynch’s emerita status reminds me of the old yarn told about Frank Giles of the Times. Decades ago, he was appointed Editor Emeritus of the Times. Puzzled, he asked Rupert Murdoch – the man who had just removed him from operational duties to elevate him to this position – what “emeritus” meant. Legend has it that Murdoch replied “emeritus comes from Latin, Frank. E means you’re out. And Meritus means you deserve it”.
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