--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Correct English is the slang of prigs." description: "\"Correct English is the slang of prigs.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/george-eliot-84_language_correct-english-is-the-slang-of-prigs-23_2352218.png" --- # Correct English is the slang of prigs. ![“Correct English is the slang of prigs.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/george-eliot-84_language_correct-english-is-the-slang-of-prigs-23_2352218.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/george-eliot-84_language_correct-english-is-the-slang-of-prigs-23_2352218.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/george-eliot-84_language_correct-english-is-the-slang-of-prigs-23_2352218.png) > “Correct English is the slang of prigs.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Correct English is merely a pretentious social marker, not a measure of intelligence. **In simple terms:** Proper English is a class signal. Key Takeaway Focus on clear communication over strict correctness. Themes language class pretension communication social norms Mood critical analytical Type sociological observational When to use this quote - Public speaking - writing workshops - cross‑cultural dialogue - education Key Concepts Sociolinguistics prescriptivism identity signaling Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape social perception? - When is formal language essential? A Different Perspective May dismiss the value of grammatical precision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Correct English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/correct-english-476070/) [English Slang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-slang-739617/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Prigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prigs-5730356/) [Slang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slang/) [Slang Prigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slang-prigs-739618/) ## Related quotes > [ “all choice of words is a slang \[…\] correct English is the slang of prigs who write history and essays.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-choice-of-words-is-a-slang-correct-english-is-the-slang-of-prigs/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I beg your pardon: correct English is the slang of prigs who write history and essays. And the strongest slang of all is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/i-beg-your-pardon-correct-english-is-the-slang-of-prigs-who-write/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“All choice of words is slang. It marks a class.” “There is correct English: that is not slang.” “I beg your pardon: correct English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/all-choice-of-words-is-slang-it-marks-a-class-there-is-correct/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [My best friend Madison keeps a list on her phone of all of the different English slang that I say, so she has kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/my-best-friend-madison-keeps-a-list-on-her-phone-of-all-of-the/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [In general, American slang is much better than English slang. The entire world picks up American slang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-sheidlower/in-general-american-slang-is-much-better-than-english-slang-the/) [Jesse Sheidlower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-sheidlower/) > [Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/even-if-you-do-learn-to-speak-correct-english-whom-are-you-going-to/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [Trying to speak correct English is not easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danilo-gallinari/trying-to-speak-correct-english-is-not-easy/) [Danilo Gallinari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danilo-gallinari/) > [People sometimes have to correct my English. I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/people-sometimes-have-to-correct-my-english-i-knew-i-had-a-problem/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [what has been termed 'correct' English is nothing other than the blatant legitimation of the white middle-class code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/what-has-been-termed-correct-english-is-nothing-other-than-the/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. 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What that means is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/there-s-an-old-little-jingle-the-chief-use-of-slang-is-to-show-that/) [David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/) > [I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be President.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/i-would-rather-have-written-fables-in-slang-than-be-president/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [I have no desire to be hip to the latest black slang and do the stereotypical black thing. I was a Richard Pryor fan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklyn-ajaye/i-have-no-desire-to-be-hip-to-the-latest-black-slang-and-do-the/) [Franklyn Ajaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklyn-ajaye/) > [I was able to make up lots of portementos, literally hundreds and hundreds of words... See, I find that mine don't have any meanings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-fraser/i-was-able-to-make-up-lots-of-portementos-literally-hundreds-and/) [Elizabeth Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-fraser/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Language quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. 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Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) [TimBur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timbur/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. 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