To the editor:

A few weeks ago you printed a one-line question from a local man asking why North Attleborough and Foxborough spell their name differently than Attleboro. I'd like a few inches of space to answer his question. I also ask you not to remove the "ugh" from the names, since they are the reason for this response.

He was correct that the spelling dates back to "Merrie Olde England." In fact, when Attleboro was first incorporated (1694) it was the Town of Attleborough. In 1887, the Town of North Attleborough "broke away" and incorporated with the legal spelling to include the traditional "ugh." The Town of Attleborough re-incorporated and became the City of Attleboro, dropping the "ugh."

All of the communities in Massachusetts that end in "bur-oh" are legally spelled with "borough"; the City of Attleboro is the only exception. There are 11 towns that are spelled this way, from Boxborough to Westborough. (I found the names on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Web site at www.mass.gov). Please note that Attleboro Falls is a section of North Attleborough that, sadly, spells its name the same as the city.

I find it both offensive and disrespectful that our community newspaper has chosen to misspell the names of local towns, but letters to the newspaper have become dismissed as jokes. I wonder how they'd all feel if people kept misspelling their names? This newspaper's publisher, Oreste D'Arconte, seems to have mixed emotions about having his name misspelled! I urge the question writer and the rest of the community to spell the names of our towns correctly. Louise R. Cote
North Attleborough