Queen's English Society
Encyclopedia
The Queen's English Society is a charity that aims to keep the English language safe from perceived declining standards . The current President is Dr. Bernard Lamb, a former Reader
in Genetics
at Imperial College.
, and members wrote to newspapers and broadcasters, pointing out perceived linguistic errors and instances of ambiguous spoken English.
The Society claims to be concerned about the education of children. It believes that teachers should be trained to spot certain errors in English usage. In 1988, the Society delivered a petition to the then Secretary of State for Education and Science, Kenneth Baker
, urging him "to introduce the compulsory study of formal grammar, including parsing and sentence analysis, into the school curriculum".
The objectives of the Society, as expressed in its constitution, "are to promote the maintenance, knowledge, understanding, development and appreciation of the English language as used both colloquially and in literature; to educate the public in its correct and elegant usage; and to discourage the intrusion of anything detrimental to clarity or euphony”.
The Academy attracted widespread press coverage, some positive and some negative, and the QES enjoyed a surge in membership. In September 2010 the QES deleted the "Academy" content from its website, though the Academy was continued by its own board on a separate website, which is linked to that of the QES and vice versa.
believed that the Academy would seek to "protect the language from innovations", although its members had insisted that it would "mov[e] with the times"
American phoneticist Mark Liberman
called the QES "even more illogical, hypocritical and badly informed than you'd expect them to be". In the Baltimore Sun John E McIntyre wrote: "the peevish combination of shibboleth and superstition about language, combined with a sad, sad little snobbery about their presumed mastery of the language, renders these people [the QES] impervious to reason", referencing an analysis of their nascent website by Stan Carey. Comedian David Mitchell
disliked the "self-appointed" nature of the Academy and asked "By what authority would they sit in judgment?". The proposal was received with scepticism by The Economist
s Lane Greene.
The aims of the Society were restated in a lighthearted way in a recent issue of Quest . ″The good old Queen's English Society campaigns for linguistic propriety. The pose of its foes is no match for those who use English in all its variety.″
Reader (academic rank)
The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...
in Genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
at Imperial College.
History
The Queen's English Society was founded in 1972 by Joe Clifton, an Oxford graduate and schoolteacher. The Society's meetings were held in ArundelArundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
, and members wrote to newspapers and broadcasters, pointing out perceived linguistic errors and instances of ambiguous spoken English.
The Society claims to be concerned about the education of children. It believes that teachers should be trained to spot certain errors in English usage. In 1988, the Society delivered a petition to the then Secretary of State for Education and Science, Kenneth Baker
Kenneth Baker
Kenneth Wilfred Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking, CH, PC , is a British politician, a former Conservative MP and a Life Member of the Tory Reform Group.-Early life:...
, urging him "to introduce the compulsory study of formal grammar, including parsing and sentence analysis, into the school curriculum".
The objectives of the Society, as expressed in its constitution, "are to promote the maintenance, knowledge, understanding, development and appreciation of the English language as used both colloquially and in literature; to educate the public in its correct and elegant usage; and to discourage the intrusion of anything detrimental to clarity or euphony”.
The QES Academy of the English Language
In June 2010 the QES announced that it had formed an Academy of English, a language reference website. The founder of the academy was quoted as saying that: "At the moment, anything goes. Let’s set down a clear standard of what is good, correct, proper English. Let’s have a body to sit in judgment."The Academy attracted widespread press coverage, some positive and some negative, and the QES enjoyed a surge in membership. In September 2010 the QES deleted the "Academy" content from its website, though the Academy was continued by its own board on a separate website, which is linked to that of the QES and vice versa.
Reception
A Daily Telegraph opinion piece had called the QES Academy "both welcome and long overdue. Authoritative bodies exist to maintain the purity of the French, Spanish and Italian languages, but English has been left to fend for itself at a time when it is under unprecedented attack." The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
believed that the Academy would seek to "protect the language from innovations", although its members had insisted that it would "mov[e] with the times"
American phoneticist Mark Liberman
Mark Liberman
Mark Liberman is an American linguist. He has a dual appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, as Trustee Professor of Phonetics in the Department of Linguistics, and as a professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. He is the founder and director of the Linguistic Data...
called the QES "even more illogical, hypocritical and badly informed than you'd expect them to be". In the Baltimore Sun John E McIntyre wrote: "the peevish combination of shibboleth and superstition about language, combined with a sad, sad little snobbery about their presumed mastery of the language, renders these people [the QES] impervious to reason", referencing an analysis of their nascent website by Stan Carey. Comedian David Mitchell
David Mitchell (actor)
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
disliked the "self-appointed" nature of the Academy and asked "By what authority would they sit in judgment?". The proposal was received with scepticism by The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
s Lane Greene.
Publications
The Society’s quarterly journal, Quest, has been sent to members since 1979. It includes articles, letters from members, news, book reviews, puzzles and poems. Books published by the QES include The Queen's English: And How to Use It by Bernard Lamb, and Shakin' the Ketchup Bot'le, a compilation of articles from Quest.The aims of the Society were restated in a lighthearted way in a recent issue of Quest . ″The good old Queen's English Society campaigns for linguistic propriety. The pose of its foes is no match for those who use English in all its variety.″