OXFORD ENGLISH

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OXFORD ENGLISH.
1. English spoken with an OXFORD ACCENT, widely considered, especially in the earlier 20c, to be ‘the best’ BrE usage, but also regarded by many as affected and pretentious.

2. A term used by Oxford University Press in recent years virtually as a trade name in the promotion of English-language reference books and ELT course materials. It occurs in the title of Oxford English: A Guide to the Language, ed. I. C. B. Dear (1983). This work is presented as ‘a guide to correct written and spoken English and an accessible introduction to the language in all its aspects’. See BBC ENGLISH1, CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH, RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION.

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