William Mallinson Behind the Words

Annotation

Politically correct pundits have been attempting to relegate Standard English to the status of a dialect, since they have succumbed to the idea that it is connected to 'class'. This book tears up this falsehood, pointing out that it is a question of education far more than of class. And, even then, why attack class?This linguistic disease has now infected the British Civil Service, and, in turn, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, once regarded as the bastion of good, clear English. The book demonstrates, through original texts, how FCO English has deteriorated in the last thirty years, owing to a combination of the attack on Standard English, (American) globalisation, the unfettered electronification of communications, Twitter, Blairism, and even attitudes towards sex. The upshot is that, in tandem with the US-influenced invasion of clear, traditional English, has come a serious loss in Britain's independence.