king's English

noun

1. standard, educated, or correct English speech or usage, especially of England.

King's English

noun

1. (esp when the British sovereign is male) standard Southern British English

Word History and Origins

Origin of King's English¹

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

After the first verse, Alanis included a footnote in the musical book stating, “I get it when people mock these lyrics. The real irony of all time for me is that I’m usually the grammar police. I’m usually the one going, ‘Ah, that’s not the King’s English.’”

From Salon

The King's English and Cockney are no longer common dialects among young people in the South East of England, according to a new study.

From BBC

In recent years, Cockney and the King's English were spoken by people of all ages, but now 49% of the participants spoke in a standard southern British English accent, which the study said was a modern, updated version of received pronunciation.

From BBC

“Know how much teasing your ma and I got when we were your age? Even before that? When we started school, long time ago way back, neither one of us spoke what they called the King’s English. We spoke Gullah, like your gran, and like you did just now. Everybody, including the teachers, laughed at us for sounding ignorant. They wanted to put us in a special class for slower children because they thought we couldn’t learn.”

From Literature

We don't get a pass because we speak the King's English well or don't have one mark on a criminal record between us or any of the other Black respectability measurements we're constantly expected to stay ahead of.

From Salon