''Finally, "sesquipedalian" may be a bit too "sesquipedalian" for you, but didn't you get a bit of a thrill when you first found out what it meant?''

Not really, as I recall learning it from some jumped-up, haughty little turd using it for precisely the reasons I mentioned.

''But this can be done without denigrating their home language. Indeed studies on both sides of the Atlantic show that a comparative approach enables students to handle Standard English better...'' '' Let's have more dialect on the BBC, for example, not less.''

Yes, I'm liking this. People seem to forget that Oxbridge English grew out of East Midlands dialect and Estuary Anglo-French.

'' ... impose some kind of Goebbelsian prescriptive recasting of the language in line with linguistic purity. ''

Oh God, here we go, wondered how long it would take before someone invoked Godwin's law on the thread. *yawn*

Just once it would be lovely to discuss the breadth, range and manifold strengths of English's own words without some self-righteous classroom- level b*llocks (excuse my French - and by that I mean 'class' and the -eous ending) being wielded. Always as though we'll all instantaneously don jack boots and slip on brown shirts if we dare bespeak the usefulness of words from English's roots (those being Teutonic - whether you like it or not) which were often wrongly and intentionally ousted in favour of flamboyant, wordy one-upmanship initiated by ink-bespattered, periwig-clad bigots.

France, Holland, Germany, Iceland have all tightened up the measures by which needless foreign words enter the language - okay, not always effectively, especially on a slang level. However, they tend to safeguard the administrative/ political/ judicial realms of the language from Latinate superciliousness and lexicographical trickery ( or Latin haughtiness and wordsmith's cunning, if you like).

Of course, no one here believes you could effectively cast out the whole plethora of Latin and French in the language - nor would it be wise or necessary in many cases. However, a pruning of needless 'sesquipedalian' usage would be a useful start **you see, that word would be one of the first to go** 'longwordy' would be way more recognisable, easier to remember and just as effective. Thus empowering ordinary native-English speakers instead of making them feel their own language is a minefield of 'learned' privilege.

Erm, but Norse was very close to Old English - so the influence more obvious and natural. Plus the sheer amount of Scandinavian immigrants to the UK's shores were always going to have a naturally overwhelming effect on the language as it stood between the 9th-11thC.

French and Latin, however, never influenced English due to such a migrant-manifold, if you will. No, instead the former was imposed, albeit by attrition, through a 5% invasion force and the latter by ink-horn wielding snobs hell-bent on lauding pseudo-superiority through classic literature...I mention no names...but The Bigoted Idiot (aka Dr S Johnson) and his supposed comprehensive dictionary of English.

Caveat: All opinions displayed in this post are those of the author and are very, probably accurate

**YES! Awkwardly afield, I say. It should become much, much less so, so the richness of true English can at last come to the fore unbridled and shine through.**

Again Aengelfolc, you hit the nail right on the head, and that's onefoldly what we're here for. Not to dance and juke about pointlessly exclaiming how much needless Latinate terms there are in our tongue - that's self-evident.

**Anglishers would have nearly half of a school-leaver's word-stock ripped out and replaced. I don't think that will go down truly well.**

No, not really, as no one's putting forward that the wordstock be ripped out. Just that needless foreign words be slowly and steadily insteaded by more English based ones. It would be a slow forthgoing to begin with but could increase as/ when the trend for more native words took hold or became newfangled.

Aengelfolc, it's a froth to behold your posts and input here. I nearly always yeasay your ingivings on this thread, and think you're likely the only fellow here with a kindred samethinkness as myself.

Hey Meedgetter,

This again is a funfilled lofty-wafty idea, had French really been spoken by superior numbers of French settlers then no matter how hard the Anglophone authorities attempted to impose English they'd have failed. I just don't believe that one treaty or deal or mandate would have worked in instilling French as the forefront language of the States without some kind of widespread genocide of all the Anglophones, plus Dutch and Germans to boot. Teutons who obviously found the transition to English easier with time than an unrelated Romance language. You'd have ended up with a Quebec state like situation at best, surrounded on all sides by Germanic speakers.

@jayles: "Never ceases to amaze me how close French is to English...."

Haha, well this is obviously utter bollocks... you've likely been hitting the old wine flask before hitting the tweennet.

How does 'sans' sound anything like without? Sounds like lots of the stuff you find at the beach.

@Aengelfolc

Re. Rogier - yes, I've thought this concerning English for a long time. Rogier's plea just happens to have survived, and terrifyingly embodies the way many a Francophone bureaucrat likely thinks about their own language in Belgium to this day...However, economics and prosperity of the Flemings is countering this idea of Frenchly superiority, not to mention the helpful bolstering effect of English to the similar Flemish tongue.