S Retraction in the South-East of England

Abstract

It is all very well for people to complain about the abuse hurled by fans at the England v Portugal match, but this is hardly surprising when one hears our spoken language under constant attack from the all-pervading virus of "London lad" speak – via the "meeja", including, alas, Radio 3. I am tired of hearing presenters – from weather girls to news readers – refer to "Chewsday" [Tuesday] [...] and to "Alec Shtewart" [Stewart] (who keeps wicket for England) [...] The insidious degradation of spoken English saddens me and someone ought to stand up and say "enough". ( The Daily Telegraph 17 June 2000, qtd. in Kerswill 2001, 57; our emphasis)