Few things so readily spark a lively debate as the use and perceived misuse of English. But are we too protective of our language? Too prescriptive even? Does English need defending?
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These questions were central to an excellent event that took place a couple of days ago at the Oxford Literary Festival. The panellists were: Susie Dent, author of How to Talk like a Local and the resident dictionary expert on Channel 4’s Countdown; Henry Hitchings, author of The Secret Life of Words and Dr Johnson’s Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World; and Stephen Harrison, Professor of Latin Literature at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
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What the My Blue Pencil editors found most heart-warming about the direction the discussion took was the refreshingly inclusive and non-judgemental take all three participants had on the topic. We like to think of ourselves as open-minded editors, aware of the difference between conventions and rules and very keen on promoting the style of a piece over a set of fusty rules. The panellists all agreed with such an approach, championing regional diversity and the mongrel nature of the English language and resisting the temptation of many editors and word-lovers to set down inflexible and dogmatic rules.
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We would highly recommend the two books that Susie Dent and Henry Hitchings were there to promote; Susie Dent’s How to Talk Like a Local is full of wonderful dialect words from around Great Britain, a real treasure trove of lively and unique local colour. The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English is categorised according to words whose origins are beyond the shores of the UK and is a great paean to the inclusiveness of our language, to its rich heritage of borrowing and expansion through its openness.
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Both are thoroughly enjoyable and well worth getting hold of. Our thanks to the organisers of the Oxford Literary Festival for a very enjoyable and illuminating morning.
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