Green-ink brigade/letter

[Michael Quinion]

Is the term "green-ink letter" known in North America? It seems to be
largely a British journalists' jargon term for a cranky letter to a
newspaper by a correspondent usually dismissed by the catch-all term
"nutter". It is assumed that the genesis of the term was that such
letters were often really written in green ink, for obscure reasons
that would interest students of abnormal psychology. It's hard even
to get a handle on how old the expression is - my earliest firm
citation is from 1995, for the associated term "green-ink brigade".
Does anybody have any information that might tie it down?


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Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <TheEditor at worldwidewords.org>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>