unEnglish

See also: un-English

English

Adjective

unEnglish (comparative more unEnglish, superlative most unEnglish)

1. Rare spelling of un-English.
   • 1838 April, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume XLIII, Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons; London: T. Cadell, […] , footnote, page 513:

     George IV. who, whatever his faults, had a true British spirit and sentiments, declared both to be anti-British, and expressed himself in no measured terms at the time about giving the royal infant such unEnglish names.

   • 1931, W. Somerset Maugham, “The Alien Corn”, in The Complete Short Stories, volume 2, London: Book Club Associates, published 1976, page 541:

     But though he spoke so tartly I could see that he was not a little proud of his scapegrace son, he loved him with oh, such an unEnglish love, and in his heart it flattered him that George had cut such a dash.

   • 1998 July 6, Markus Laker, “Re: ***Strange Dialect”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet), message-ID <35ae4e9f.46979042@news.tcp.co.uk>:

     > You give /kO:t/ given as the "British" pronunciation for both, / Not I, but Mark Israel. The table you're referring to is taken straight from his FAQ. COD9 gives /kO:t/, and no other pronunciation, for both words. The much older OED2 gives /kO:t/ for 'caught', but for 'court' it gives /kO@t/, which sounds unEnglish to me.

   • 2002 February 5, anton, “Re: Teachers told to instil pupils with ‘white pride’”, in alt.politics.british (Usenet), message-ID <a3n0eh$69a$1@paris.btinternet.com>:

     Can't someone tell them that instillation of "white pride" at school is completely unEnglish? Important matters have to absorbed by osmosis: these things are not spoken of, except by colonials.

   • 2007 May 25, Mike Lyle, “Re: pronunciation of "r" before WW1”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet), message-ID <4656f7c7$0$28429$88260bb3@free.teranews.com>:

     This is very interesting from an Anglophone viewpoint. There may well have been a book about it - I don't know; but there were definite stagey pronunciations of English around the turn of the 19-20C. This repertoire included a very unEnglish trilled r, which as late as the 1960s was mistakenly regarded as desirable in careful speech by a few people.

   • 2009 June 28, AlanG, “Re: Why should anyone benefit from crime?”, in uk.legal (Usenet), message-ID <3r5f45t57dgt5l4a47138ea3j4p1lh4t35@4ax.com>:

     I have no objection to 'convicted' criminals being forced to give up the loot. The idea of seizing someone's wealth without convicting them of a criminal offence is distictly^[sic] unEnglish. It doesn't accord with the priciples^[sic] of English justice I was brought up to respect. It simply turns the police and courts into thieves.