Standard English

[stan-derd ing-glish, -lish]

noun

1. the English language in its most widely accepted form, adhering to fixed academic norms of spelling, grammar, and usage in written and spoken contexts, and neutralizing nonstandard dialectal variation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Standard English¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Applicants will need to meet stricter minimum requirements including the equivalent to A-level standard English language, a clean criminal record and earning above £12,570 a year for at least three years.

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As an audio experience, the main thing to know is that the body of the book is read by Kenneth Branagh, at 64 a somewhat younger theatrical great who has a voice so silky and supple that he can shift easily from delivering a passage of Shakespeare in Standard English to producing dialect in the accents of Wales, working-class East London and, most amusingly, the U.S.

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"The prize for the joke of the year," he wrote during the Emergency, "should go to the Indian news agency reporter in London who approvingly quoted a British newspaper comment on India under the Emergency, that 'trains are running on time' - not realising this used to be the standard English joke about Mussolini's Italy. When we have such innocents abroad, we don't really need humorists."

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"The slaves would have a way of speaking to each other that is unintelligible to their slave owners. In my novel, it happens to be what we would call standard English".

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Then he translated into standard English: If anyone tries to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, “I will veto it.”

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