Language Myths in Lord Chesterfield's 1754 Letters to the World
Language Myths in Lord Chesterfield's 1754 Letters to the World

Summary/Abstract: Taking the approach proposed by Watts (2011) as a point of reference, we aim to examine some of the “language myths” that have helped to construct the history of the English language ideologically (Watts 2011), focusing on two Letters (the World, No.100, November 28, the World, No. 101, December 5) sent by Lord Chesterfield to the World in 1754. These Letters announce the publication of a significant text in the history of the English language, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary (1755). The purpose of the article will be to show that the use of language myths in the Letters reflects the shifting relation between “politeness” and “correctness” in the second half of the eighteenth century (Klein 1994, Fitzmaurice 1998) and an emergent “conceptualization of a legitimate form of English” (Watts 2011).

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