THE ITALIAN WARS

Gallo, while correcting Mark Piscitelli’s correction of her Italian (Calendar Letters, July 6), used the expression mia culpa . That’s neither Italian nor Latin, but a bit of both. She meant either mea culpa (Latin) or mia colpa (Italian). And then, of course, there’s mia farrow .

Should anyone question my credentials, be it known that I flunked first-year Latin in high school and my father was, like Gallo’s phrase, half Italian.

RAY RUSSELL

Beverly Hills