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War on woke ?
Liz Truss is best known as the UK ’ s Foreign Secretary , but she ’ s also the British Government ' s equalities minister , and it was wearing her latter hat that she addressed the Conservative Party ’ s spring conference last month . During her speech , she said the following :
“ Now is the time to end the culture of self-doubt , the constant self-questioning and introspection , the ludicrous debates about language , statues and pronouns . Our history , warts and all , makes us what we are today .”
Such views are rare amongst in the “ woke ” atmosphere which we nonsnowflakes appear to tolerate , and Ms
Truss ’ s comments are well overdue . “ Constant self-questioning and introspection ” need to cease , she added .
However , her call for a restoration of pride in Britain ’ s values will probably have fallen on deaf ears . On the same day as her speech hit the headlines , it was reported that specialists from the University of Essex have given the green light to careless and slovenly use of the English language .
There is , they say , no such thing as “ correct ” language and those who regard good English as important are exhibiting “ accent prejudice .” For example , using “ ain ’ t ” instead of “ is not ” or “ are not ” is fine , they claim , as is the common use of “ aks ” instead of “ ask .”
Their report is at pains to point out that such use of English stems from different dialects and immigrant tongues which have arrived in Britain over the years . This even extends to dropping the last letter of “ -ing ” words , to produce “ runnin ’” instead of “ running .” Which is all entirely understandable and quite acceptable in everyday speech .
But what seems to be missing is the requirement for those who use colloquial English to understand that it is colloquial , a fact which was drilled into many of us at school years ago . One critic of the Essex University specialists said , “ There is always room for dialects and changes in meaning , but
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