The boundaries of Maryland: a rant.

There's a railway station called Maryland in England, and some people are offended. 

These offended people (they include Rokhsana Fiaz, the local mayor) say that the name Maryland was given to the station because a slave-holding family held estates in Maryland in the USA.* 

Another interested party, Anthony McAlmont, said: 'anything that has some connection with slavery does offend some of us'.

Now, in some ways it doesn't matter in a way if this claim about a connection to slavery is true: offence has been taken, and there's now a campaign to have the name of the station changed. That would cause a bit of expense, and probably quite a lot of confusion, but perhaps it should be done despite the fact that, in Britain, Maryland is only really famous for its cookies.

I'm worried that a change of name might cause offence to historians, though. The people, I mean, who care that the name Maryland, as in the station, seems to be older than the American state.

I'm talking about the people who care that the Mary in this Maryland is probably to do with the Old English word mære, which means boundary.

The problem seems to depend upon whose offence counts for more?

And who would dare legislate on that?

Word To Use Today: actually, I'm getting to the point where I hardly dare use any words at all, but the word slave is basically the same word as Slav. 

Oh dear...

...I do apologise most wholeheartedly for any offence caused to Slavs by the use of this word...

...gulp.

*The account I read in the Telegraph refers to Maryland as a Mid-Atlantic state, but that would surely make the place very wet indeed.