The Indian English Complaint Tradition: ‘Old Chestnuts’ and New Perspectives

ABSTRACT English usage in India has been the target of a linguistic complaint tradition ‘which has taken the form of complaint about so‐called mis‐use of language and linguistic decline’ since the 19th century. The Indian English (IndE) complaint tradition in the 21st century has shifted from colonial to postcolonial in that IndE usage is now targeted by Indians themselves rather than British speakers of English, but there is also a remarkable continuity of topics, providing support for the observation that ‘relatively trivial linguistic differences are frequently seized upon and magnified’. The historical overview of the IndE complaint tradition will then be taken into the 21st century, with new data from an attitude study in which participants were asked to respond to the question ‘Can you give some (3 to 5) examples of ways of using English that really annoy you?’. Examples were coded regarding their thematic focus and then analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, overall, this contribution examines the enduring allure of the complaint tradition at the grassroots level.