THE British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has recently been urged to appoint a language chief by critics who claim that its reputation as a bastion of the Queen’s English is fading fast, the Guardian has reported.
In an open letter to Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, campaigners accuse presenters and correspondents of consistently misusing words, making grammatical errors and relying too heavily on colloquial phrases in place of standard English.
The signatories, who want a language chief to monitor “the syntax, vocabulary and style” of the thousands of corporation staff heard on air, come from various backgrounds. Among them are Professor Chris Woodhead, the former chief inspector of schools, Lord Charles Guthrie, the former chief of the defense staff, and MP (Member of Parliament) Ann Widdecombe. “We do so because language deeply affects all branches of society,” says the letter.
Signatories want managers at the BBC to consider the suggestion by Ian Bruton-Simmonds, a member of the Queen’s English Society, that it appoint a head of grammar. Under the proposals, 100 unpaid “monitors” working from home would note grammatical slips or badly chosen vocabulary. The checkers would then report to a central adviser, who would write to broadcasters outlining what was said and what should have been said.
According to Simmonds, regular mistakes by BBC correspondents spread fast through society. He blames the corporation for ruining a number of words, giving the example of the noun “replica”. Correctly defined as a “copy, duplicate or reproduction of a work of art”, Simmonds complaines that it is now used in place of “imitation”, “likeness” and “model”. He also criticizes journalists for mixing up the singular and plural and interchanging the words “may” and “might”. Another one of the most common mistakes cited is the incorrect use of the word “refute”, which means “to disprove”, not “deny”.
Although the BBC has a department dedicated to pronunciation, it has no equivalent for vocabulary or grammar. A BBC spokeswoman admitted there was no regular monitoring of correspondents. “Grammar guidance is currently available to our staff on the corporation’s intranet,” she said. “It is only there for guidance; there are no set rules on grammar.”
However, it is thought unlikely the BBC would appoint a language chief in the light of its recently announced staff cuts.
