The King's English Society is a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

that aims to keep the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

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

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

. The Society was known as the Queen's English Society from its foundation, until the Society resolved to change its name in September 2024.The Queen’s English Society changes its name
: The Kings' English Society - News, September 2024 In June 2012 the Society had announced its closure because of declining participation, but it continued to exist, as volunteers filled the committee in September 2012.
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 la ...

, 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 A formal grammar is a set of Terminal and nonterminal symbols, symbols and the Production (computer science), production rules for rewriting some of them into every possible string of a formal language over an Alphabet (formal languages), alphabe ...

, 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. Following the accession of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

in 2023, the Society reconsidered its name. At the Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024, a Resolution to change the name to The King's English Society was carried.

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 was not continued after the founder's death.

Reception

A ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' opinion piece 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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 Mark Yoffe Liberman is an American linguist. He is Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, with a dual appointment as Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science. He is ...

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, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

'' 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 newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' Lane Greene.

Publications

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

References

External links