First recorded in 1545–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He, however, is so wrapped up in his studies of phonetics that his only interest in Eliza is her appalling command of the king's English.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2011
Episcopalians seem to be polls apart It was in 1549 that the Church of England forsook the Latin liturgy and began worshiping in the king's English.
From Time Magazine Archive
All concerned murder the king's English, but in a grand, Gaelic manner.
From Time Magazine Archive
It shows that until about 40 years before Abraham Lincoln entered public life, the Lincolns were a wealthy and distinguished family of ironmasters who spoke the king's English.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Don't mounseer me, you young whipper-snapper," said the antiquary; "but learn to speak the king's English when Englishmen honour you with their custom."
From Tales of the Wonder Club, Volume II by Huth, Alexander
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 ● Nov. 2, 2023
In The King’s English, the Fowler brothers counseled against Americanisms, but expressed envy over fall:
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2018
Kingsley Amis, in The King’s English, calls alright a “oneword travesty”.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 25, 2016
Bang the Drum Slowly'' is its rendering of what feels decidedly like the opposite of the King's English.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2012
Its language supposedly represents the ultimate in using the King’s English.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
