tantopere contemno hos omnes homines

(Hat tip: underdogs bite upwards) Councils ban 'elitist' and 'discriminatory' Latin phrases:

They are phrases that are repeated ad nauseam and are taken as bona fide English, but councils have now overturned the status quo by banning staff from using Latin terms, which they claim are elitist and discriminatory.

[...]

Bournemouth Council, which has the Latin motto Pulchritudo et Salubritas, meaning beauty and health, has listed 19 terms it no longer considers acceptable for use.

This includes bona fide, eg (exempli gratia), prima facie, ad lib or ad libitum, etc or et cetera, ie or id est, inter alia, NB or nota bene, per, per se, pro rata, quid pro quo, vis-a-vis, vice versa and even via.

I submit that anyone who does not comprehend all of the above at least well enough to read them, never mind use them, is bordering on sub-literacy, but never mind.  But here's the really infuriating thing:

However, the Plain English Campaign has congratulated the councils for introducing the bans.

Marie Clair, its spokesman, said: "If you look at the diversity of all our communities you have got people for whom English is a second language. They might mistake eg for egg and little things like that can confuse people.

"At the same time it is important to remember that the national literacy level is about 12 years old and the vast majority of people hardly ever use these terms.

"It is far better to use words people understand. Often people in power are using the words because they want to feel self important. It is not right that voters should suffer because of some official's ego."

I am almost rendered silent by suffusing anger that anyone would have the damn gall to claim that we should gut the expressive power of the language because (a) immigrants can't cope with learning English adequately (Have you talked to any immigrants, recently, I must ask?  Half of them speak the language better than the native-born, which I fear reflects principally on the lamentable state of public education.) and especially, (b), that the national literacy level apparently reflects a nation of morons, and then go on, as if that were not enough, to demand that this nation of morons have the right to live their lives never having to be troubled with anything beyond their simian level of comprehension.

My dear Ms. Clair, it is hardly right that those of us who took the trouble to achieve even a barely adequate grasp on the English language should be required to communicate in baby talk merely because it bruises the egos - behold, a Latin word - of those who felt it unnecessary so to do, and are disinclined to correct that.

But then, I fear we are rapidly approaching the point of regarding almost any sign of virtue or applied effort as elitist.