Brexit should not mean Engxit too

If there is anything that a shrinking UK can take heart from, it is the widening family of English variants. It should be a matter of pride that the language Britons carried to the rest of the world is no longer the Queen’s English but Everyone’s English — and nowhere more so that in India.

In fact, the continuing expansion of Hinglish, Benglish, Tamlish, Punjlish et al, should serve as an example for the European Union, given that Brexit is on the early-2020 agenda and some believe it means Engxit too.

English is like the proverbial potato in Indian cooking — it absorbs the distinct flavours of dishes and enhances its own appeal. Eventually, those dishes without potatoes are unthinkable. The EU must banish any thoughts of allowing (or forcing) English to exit along with Britain or risk alienating countless Europeans who have developed a taste for English.


India remains an incontrovertible example of how this language is far more tenacious than its progenitor. Euro-English — or Eurolish — is already patois-and-parcel of communication in Brussels and among continental millennials.

The 23 other European official languages stepped aside for English long ago; it is too late to choose one of those now as the alternative lingua franca. Of course, like the Indian variants, Eurolish may eventually have only a nodding acquaintance with the original.