the King's English

the King's English

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

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 King's/Queen's English
  • BBC English
  • English
  • FOBlish
  • put some English on it
  • John Bull
  • write (something) in plain English
  • as it were
  • (one) catch no ball
  • a broad church
References in periodicals archive
The King's English Bookshop, for example, has fared well with its online bookstore for years, and it's expanding services all the time.
Weaknesses: Setting an alarm clock, the King's English, shooting a Zoo ad
Shakespeare portrays the language of Henry V as an agent of reform for those under him, and presents in the play the spectacle of "the King's English triumphing over foreign or irresponsible speakers" (128).
The King's English; adventures of an independent bookstore.
To retain the articles' unique national flavors, the British contributors convey their thoughts in "the King's English," complete with British spelling and terminology, while the American authors employ US spelling and style.
O.," as we staffers at Ogilvy & Mather called him) has prompted me to once again offend every English teacher whose classes I endured, and inspire everyone else who speaks the King's English to cringe, by penning another of my infamous poems, this one entitled ...
If the blues is a single note that is slurred into a different tone, then we have taken the King's English and blued it into our own dialect.
Through a plethora of fascinating case studies, chapter 1 demonstrates that while regional and trade dialects were central to identity formation, from the mid-sixteenth century on deviations from "The King's English" were likely to be associated with a lack of civility.
However, since most of those who lent their talents to the drafting of this amazing document were men educated under the British system and did speak "The King's English," it was the accepted form.
Oh, how they must rue the loss of Empire, when pith-helmeted chappies in khaki shorts could insist at the crack of a rhino-whip that the natives spoke the King's English in their presence.
He also wrote The King's English and worked on the Concise Oxford Dictionary and the 'pocket' Oxford dictionaries.
I'm just a humble rodent who speaks the King's English, reads the classics, remembers everything I see and hear, and learns faster than an MIT freshman pumped up on Mountain Dew and lattes for an all-nighter.
One might refer to the horribility of forcing everyone to speak the King's English.
It should also be noted that the heroes of the novella (Washington, Listwell, and Grant) use a flawless form of the King's English, in stark contrast to the profane, grammatically incorrect slang used by the story's racist characters.
Strafford's trial at Westminster, orchestrated by Protestants and Catholics from Ireland, Scottish Covenanters and the King's English opponents, highlights the importance of the interconnections between the Stuart kingdoms.