the 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:
  • 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
References in classic literature
I can talk the Queen's English (God bless the Queen!), and that's more than most of the people about here can do.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Obsessed with speaKing and writing the Queen's English, she would thinK nothing of posting bacK to a mortified young woman her Kindly sent letter ringed with red underlining.
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.
Admittedly the Queen's English Society does not at present have the prestige of the Academie Francais - or even the OED - but a growing membership will increase its influence.
London, June 5 ( ANI ): The Queen's English society has announced that it will cease to exist at the end of this month as no one cares about speaking proper English language anymore.
To mark the Queen's 60-year reign, the company released the Queen's English, a new language module for the app.