This blog is devoted to the proposition that English is a European language. Variants of it are used as the primary language in many places within and beyond England and its now a distributed cultural phenomenon. Like most successful cultural phenomena it is amorphous to the point of being hard to define. But its origins lie the the European languages especially those that became modern French and German.
So, Europhiles unite! And lets all agree to use the European variants of English when we use English.
Where non-Europeans use English they can do as they please. Variants are highly welcome and we in the European English-speaking nations – England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales (are there others?) – will adopt “Hello” for example where we find it useful. But non-native speakers of English in Europe should surely prefer their sister language to non-European variants.
Tell me what you think!
