English in use

Here we consider different forms of English by place (regional and international), and some popular trends in writing and speech.

Englishes by place

• English dialect study—an overview, by Clive Upton
• Cockney, by Jonathon Green
• Australian English in the twentieth century, by Bruce Moore
• East Anglian English, by Peter Trudgill
• North-east English dialects, by Adam Mearns
• Canadian English, by Stefan Dollinger
• South African English, by Penny Silva

Trends and expressions

• The ‘-gate’ suffix, by Eleanor Maier
• ‘Tex-Mex’: terms in English, by Matt Kohl
• Raw-head, bloody bones, and other terrors of the nursery, by Eleanor Maier
• Pigskin and gridiron: notes on the American Football lexicon, by Matt Kohl
• Through a glass: how the language of cocktails shapes English, by Denny Hilton
• Lights, camera, lexicon: the language of films in the OED, by Katherine Connor Martin
• Breaking the code: lexicography and cryptography, by Peter Gilliver
• The most distinctive counting system in English? Indian cardinal numbers, by Richard Shapiro
• Why the OED’s Word of the Day is special, by Craig Leyland
• Can-do: the all capable ‘-buster’, by Eleanor Maier

Aspects of English: as well as language in use, explore the history English and how it's shaped, along with the stories behind some everyday words. More »