I wish I’d had the privilege of knowing Lyra McKee

Several years ago, I used to hear this familiar word being used in a foreign sense. The people in my vicinity would take this well-known word to describe others who were acting in a high-brow way, but in a high-brow moral way. The word sounded complimentary to me, but it was clear they were using it in a disparaging tone.

“He or she or it is a bit worthy, don’t you think,” they would say. Surely, behaving or communicating in a “worthy” way was a positive thing? How could someone’s good deeds or words have the power to aggravate anyone? And so I resented their botched use of the word “worthy”. But this week, I returned it to its proper use.