Queen's English

the Queen's English

The standard, "correct" form of English, as spoken by educated people in Britain. (When the ruling monarch in the United Kingdom is a king, it is called "the King's English.") We're friends now, so quit being so formal and speaking the Queen's English. As a professor, you really should speak the Queen's English.
See also: English
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(The) Queen's English

"Official" British English. He can't even speak The Queen's English! Despicable!
See also: English
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

the ˌKing’s/ˌQueen’s ˈEnglish

(old-fashioned or humorous) (in Britain) correct standard English: I can’t understand a word you’re saying. Can’t you speak the Queen’s English?
See also: English
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • the Queen's English
  • the King's English
  • the King's/Queen's English
  • BBC English
  • English
  • FOBlish
  • wink wink (nudge nudge)
  • spoken
  • vulgar tongue
  • train as (something)
References in periodicals archive
He said on his twitter handle, @ YemiShogunle: 'For now, don't go and be speaking Queen's English with them on the road.
It was beaten by Northern Irish, which took second place, then Glaswegian, Queen's English - if that can be described as an accent - then Mancunian and Scouse.
It may raise some eyebrows but the Essex twang has been rated the sexiest across the UK, in the list put together by Big 7 Travel, followed by Northern Irish, Glaswegian and the Queen's English.
Ochieng gets Queen's English all wronPhilip Ochieng is wrong about the use of 'first priority' ("Why 'to give first priority' is utter nonsense, Saturday Nation, April 27, 2019)." He says, "The term common among Kenya's politicians, civil servants and even teachers and journalists is senseless.
He's better known for speaking the Queen's English but the Prince of Wales on Wednesday tried out some words of Pidgin as he visited Nigeria's commercial capital.
They should be concentrating on the three R's: learning the Queen's English, how to speak it and how to spell, how to read and do their basic arithmetic.
But not only were their apostrophes all over the shop (it is the Queen's English, but the rest of the family don't want you to mutilate it either), but their offer of "British Airways Royal Wedding Celebrations -- Lounge access for ALL Megan's and Harry's!" also managed to spell the bride-to-be's name wrong.
ABut a posh, Queen's English accent, is overwhelmingly the most reassuring.
During the last decade, and especially post-Brexit, some immigrants have been killed, told to "leave our country", "why don't you speak the Queen's English?", immigrant bashing, etc.
But when, on very odd occasions, I arrived casually dressed to deliver a sample of the my company's products, the greeting was more like "What do you want, you scruff?" It is, perhaps, easy to understand why people are impressed by the Queen's English but quite why the Yorkshire accent is considered to show more intelligence than the Brummie accent is beyond me.
Throop said: "They love the Queen's English - the British accent."
"They consulted with palace officials whose initial reaction was that the card would be in the Queen's English. But after contacting the Welsh Language Commissioner's office they agreed to send the card in Welsh."
The Queen's English PR is a Charlotte based public relations firm specializing in Beauty, Lifestyle and Nonprofit Public Relations.
John Shibley and Thomas Pink of LSSU curate the "List of Words Banished From the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse, and General Uselessness."
The marvellous wordsmith Ogden Nash said that every time he needed a particular word, he made one up to fit the rhyme: "A panther is a leopard, who hasn't been peppered, If you see a panther crouch, prepare to say ouch, if called by a panther, don't anther." No, not the Queen's English, then neither was Sarah Palin's "refudiate" but the meaning was readily understood, and isn't that the essence of communication.