The Language

Many of us loved the dramas and emotional rollercoaster of Downton Abbey.  I especially adored Violet, the Dowager Countess' pithy insults and Lady Mary’s romantic calamities but this is about the language?  It’s my opinion that Downton Abbey is not really in the business of providing an authentic picture of life at the time – it's entertainment.  The period is one of exciting changes and events and the series provides a flavor of what life was like in the early 20th century.  However, they did a rather remarkable job with the whole language process.

I’ve made lists of terms from each season and have included those that were unfamiliar to me, people I had heard of but didn’t know much about, and many terms that are distinctly British.  There are many examples of words or phrases that may sound modern and out of place, but most turn out to have been perfectly well-established at the time the series was set.  I have included some of those in my lists. I've also included some other terms with obvious meanings just because I found the history of the term interesting or unusual in some way.  What of the supposed anachronisms that were uttered?  I came across some of those in my research but felt they were too few to mention. Well, maybe later I'll do a page on them.