ABSTRACT
In everyday usage, the word ‘quality’ usually carries connotations of excellence. When Shakespeare wrote Portia’s speech on the quality of mercy, he described the particular characteristics of the subject which rendered it especially valuable. We speak of ‘quality newspapers’ when we wish to identify those which are known to provide material which will be of interest to an educated and discerning readership. In more classconscious days, people referred to as ‘the quality’ were those held to be of high social status or of good breeding.
