Tell me about your first choice, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary.

This was first published in 1775 and is among the most influential dictionaries in the English language. I think it is very important because it is an example of English being analysed by someone who treats it as a language of common sense and a language of the ordinary man and woman. And what was amazing is that he wrote this dictionary all by himself apart from the amateur assistance of a few hired hands. 

And he wrote some really witty entries. For example, he defined ‘lexicographer’ as ‘a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge’, and for ‘oats’ he put ‘a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people’!

So I see this as a real milestone. It is first time that a language has been defined, not in academic terms or university terms, but instead by one individual living in Fleet Street and using language in a very practical way. It’s a real touchstone of the English language.

Let’s move on to The American Language by H L Mencken.

This is a marvellous book by someone I really idolise. H L Mencken was a terrific journalist flourishing in the 1920s. He wrote for the Baltimore Morning Herald – he was known as the ‘Sage of Baltimore’ – and was very combative and polemical. He saw his job as making trouble as a columnist but in his spare time he was a passionate advocate of what he called the American language. He wrote the book to clarify the discrepancies between British and American English and to define the distinguishing characteristics of American English. 

In his own way he was as much a nationalist about his language as Johnson was in the 18th century. So they are a kind of pair. His book describes how American English evolved after the Revolution into the way it was in 1920. He saw it as being an international force. Although one of his friends was the English broadcaster Alistair Cooke, he was fairly anti-British and saw the evolution of the American language as a way of defining the nation´s identity. He was very pro what at the time was seen as slang. He thought that was a cause of celebration.

His study is undoubtedly the most scientific linguistic work on the American language to date and continues to serve as a definitive resource in the field.

The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman moves us into the third stage of the English language, which you call globish.

Yes, this book inspired some of the ideas in my book. Although it is at times a bombastic account of the global economy. It describes how one of the biggest changes that took place in the 1990s and in the last ten years was when the big global market took off on a colossal scale. Globalised English had become this extraordinary means of international communication. He explains what the flattening means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt.

This book isn’t particularly well written but it is fizzing with good ideas. ‘The world is flat’ means that it is a level playing field and if you are in India or China you have as many opportunities as you would have if you were in Manchester or Detroit. We are all connected through the internet and all have the same opportunities. 

Do you think that English will continue to be the global language despite what is happening in China?

I think that they will co-exist. There will obviously always be people who want to learn Mandarin because China is such a big player. But the interesting thing about China is that it shows no signs of wanting to break outside of itself. If you follow the relations between the Chinese and Google, their response to Google was to behave like a mollusc and to withdraw into themselves defensively. And that is what historically they have done in the past when they saw themselves as the centre of the earth with anyone on the outside referred to as a barbarian. 

On the other hand, you have the Chinese middle class who are desperate to learn English because they want to go to American universities, so you have this tension between them standing apart and wanting to get involved. By the way, I should make it clear, I love the Chinese – they are really good fun and feisty but they are being forced to make an accommodation with globish because that is the dominant language. 

For example, if a Chinese, a Korean, a Brazilian and a Nigerian meet in a trade fair anywhere in the world, the default position is bound to be globish and this is a comparatively new phenomenon.