English has become the Lingua franca of international commerce, said Cambridge educated Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong. It is indeed true but how many of us speak good, propah English. ?The meaningless, ‘Don’t rubbish Hongkong’ anti –litter campaign was a hit which again tells us that it is not necessary to speak correct English as long as you are understood. Indeed such a lot of rubbish is spoken in the name of English that Chaucer is going to get up from his grave and scream, ‘don’t rubbish English!
English is totally a mirch masala , aviyal potpourri right from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. In other places in the world too there are variations of English, the American , the Chinese, the Dutch, the Italian, the Australians , the Caribbean and even Africa have their own style of speaking English.
Ralph Waldo Emerson has rightly said, that , “The English language is the sea that receives tributaries from every region under heavan’ The everyday spoken English of the
fishermen, cowboys, folksingers and priests are also different. The difference in the language is brought out beautifully in ‘My fair lady’. The Professor’s pure English and the flower seller’s cockney accent.Of course you cannot expect everyone to know that use of the imperfect passive is wrong as is the use of the split infinitive. You cannot say ‘the house is being built’ or he is ‘different to’. Neither can you say ‘much thanks’ or the criminal was hung and the picture hanged. It is always the other way round. Something about animate and inanimate?
Language is something that makes everyone curious and passionate. Our lives are touched in various ways by language. It is language that gave you Kangaroo which actually means ‘I don’t know’ in Aborigine tongue. Also the name cashewnut is a derivation of the native language (malayalm) for ‘kashine ettu’which means eight for a paisa. The Dutch were told the price when they asked a local! Now how much of these myths are true I can’t say. Should I say how many of these myths?!.... Confusion. English is indeed a ‘punny’ language. Full of Homonyms and homophones and articles and modals and auxiliaries and gerunds and participles… The list is endless.The rise of English is unbelievable, the mother of all success stories. When Julius Ceaser landed in Britain over two thousand years ago, English did not exist. A thousand years later Englisc as it was called began to be spoken but it was not recognizable as the English of today. No one believed it would leave Britain but just remain the native language. But that was not to be. It has become a force to reckon with. Today the contrast is amazing to say the least. It has evolved into a global power carried by travelers from and into every corner of the globe.

The statistics of English is astonishing. It has the richest vocabulary -about 500,000 words not counting the half-million uncatalogued scientific and technical terms. Whew!
Not surprising , considering the fact that three –quarters of the world’s mail, telexes and cables , are in English. It is the language of technology, computer, sports and glamour, it is the official language of the Olympics . All the broadcasting companies use English and it is also the voice of Christianity . Need I say more?

English has become a second language in countries like India, Kenya, Nigeria and Singapore. It is a vital, alternative language tool unifying diverse populations. English is also taught as a foreign language in countries like Holland and Yugoslavia.
So English has risen much above being a colonial legacy, it has evolved into many englishes. Confusing ,but true.

The establishment of the English public schools for the nobility and the Education Act (1870) brought about a divide. The speech of the educated elite contrasted drastically with the eminent Victorians. Even teachers started rebuking any child who said ‘loike ‘ for like or ‘doyed ‘for died. In fact Australians still say ‘ noise’ for nice !
Picking up accents and intonation in speech became the rage and anyone speaking Non-standard English was passé.
.