The Queen's English

[AB Editor]

 

This poll is closed.

Should slang and regional dialects be forced out of schools?

• Slang should go, but regional accents and habits are important. - 245 votes
• 69%
• No! - 72 votes
• 20%
• Yes, everyone should try and speak in a similar way. - 27 votes
• 8%
• Slang is fine, as long as it is spoken in received pronunciation! - 9 votes
• 3%

See final stats

Stats until: 17:48 Sun 23rd Mar 2025 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

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[Annejps]

Dialects are also being eroded by the quite recent change in speech which has seen the complete absence of 'T' in as many words as possible. Dialects do need some effort but the new way of speaking is just about as lazy as it can be.

[tinkerbell23]

I voted NO...

Because, i speak slang, but i know the time and place not too. You are what you are, all individuals .xx

[tamborine]

How could anyone be dispondent at being called pet or love - more of it, I say :)

[trt]

Wait a few more years, anda the Engla langwich wil hav disopeered as ther Africana streat talkie as takin ovar, no wat i meen Brov?

[fillipowelly]

Slang is not so bad, what does annoy is people, especially school leavers who 'fink abaht vere free bruvvers!' this after years of education. Its laziness not corrected at school!

[mightyWBA]

Y'owm 'avin a loff!..Doh be saft aer kid..yampy as a bonk 'oss yow bin.

[mightyWBA]

One was refering to the question posed,not any reply in particular :-)

[tara20]

I don't think slang and dialect should be lumped together. Dialekt is passed down often through generations and is and indicates where we come from. Slang is often a passing fashion, that disappears when the next generation comes along. (Hopefully ;-/)

[heathfield]

There has been much discussion as to whether 'The Doric' as spoken in and around Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland is a dialect, or, indeed, a language in itself. But after years of trying to suppress its use, education authorities are now encouraging pupils to take it up to help ensure its continued existence. The same is happening with Lowland Scots, since it has been realised that much of it is more closely associated with the original Anglo Saxon English than is the Queen's English.

[dundurn]

Fit like, Heathfield?

[starone]

I remember this girl - Na'alie. No-one ever called her Natalie. She was the proprietor of a shop - just going up Na'alie's. Don't think they would have known what I meant if I had said Natalie's.
The kids around here have developed a strange language, which I have tried to learn but am not quick enough. I object to them talking in this language when they are in my company as I cannot understand what they are saying - I am naturally nosy (like the rest of the human race) and do not like it when I do not know what the conversation is about.

[weecalf]

How would you do that I though we talk the way we do be cause we imitate those around us .So you want children to leave home and go where everyone speaks the same for a whole gereration.Fifth option start a new survey.

[heathfield]

Nae bad ava, Dundurn!

[Aprilis]

It doesn't matter where you come from, what accent you have, what dialect you speak or whether you use slang words or colloquialisms. It's more about illiteracy, impoliteness, ignorance and inappropriate language for the situation at hand. I'm a born East Londonder with what is generally considered to be a Cockney accent, but it doesn't make me any less valuable as a human being. I know how to use language appropriately according to the circumstances I find myself in. I wouldn't write as I speak and I wouldn't speak in a formal situation as I would talk to my close friends and family. Schools should always teach the proper use of the English language regardless of local idiosyncrasies. The language will still evolve, just as it always has done.

[Aprilis]

It isn't really clear that what I'm trying to say is that slang, regional dialects and accents should not stop the education system teaching the correct way to use the English language. I use slang and have a terrible day to day accent, but I still know how to speak properly.

[Aprilis]

....Oops! Accidentally hit submit!
What I was going to say is that I'm literate because that's the way we were taught when I was at school. So what's going on in schools now that has thrown literacy out of the window? It certainly isn't because of slang or accents or I'd be illiterate too.

[rosamundjohn]

We need to be able to communicate. If slang and accents prohibit this, then the problem arises.

[rosamundjohn]

hello again old geezer. Agree with you yet again

[rosamundjohn]

i live in Somerset.
Where does he be to?

[THECORBYLOON]

I wonder if they'll understand the twang wherever it is you'll be migrating to rosa...