The Queen's English Society is a charity that aims to keep the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

safe from perceived declining standards. The president of the Queen's English Society is Bernard Lamb, a former

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Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. In June 2012 the Society announced its closure because of declining participation, but it continued to exist, as volunteers filled the committee in September 2012.Queen's English Society: Events
Retrieved July 26, 2012''Quest'' No. 111, Summer 2012

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

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

, 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”. On 4 June 2012, after a general meeting of the society attracted no nominations to replace retiring officers of the Society, chairman Rhea Williams announced that the society would cease to exist, but after new committee members volunteered, the Society was able to continue.

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."

Reception

A ''

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'' opinion piece had called the QES Academy "both welcome and long overdue. ..English has been left to fend for itself at a time when it is under unprecedented attack." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' believed that the Academy would seek to "protect the language from innovations", although its members had insisted that it would "mov with the times"."Pedants' revolt aims to protect English from the spell of txt spk"
''The Times'', 7 Jun 2010 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 ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' 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 he QESimpervious 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, " what authority would they sit in judgment?" The proposal was received with scepticism by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

s Lane Greene.''Johnson'' (''The Economist''): "This Time We Mean It"
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Publications

The Society's quarterly journal, ''Quest'', has been sent to members from 1979. It included 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''.

References

External links

Queen's English Society homepage

Charity Commission page for the Queen's English Society
{{Authority control English language English-language culture Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...