Anabbreviation of a word or term beginning with the letterU. Adjective sense 1 (“characteristic of the upper classes”) was coined by BritishlinguistAlan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in a 1954 article,[1] and popularized by the English journalist and writerNancy Mitford (1904–1973).[2]
1954,Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross, “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, inNeuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications][2], volume55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society,→ISSN,→JSTOR,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on15 April 2015, page24:
I may also note here that theU-demarcation is of two types: – (1) a certainU-feature has a different, non-U counterpart as non-Uwealthy /Urich; (2) a certain feature is confined toU-speech and it has a counterpart which is not confined to non-U speech e.g. the pronunciations of girl as[ɡɛl], (?[ɡjɛl]),[ɡæl],[ɡɛəl] areU, but many (perhaps most male)U-speakers, like all non-U-speakers, use the pronunciation[ɡəːl].
[1956], Alan S. C. Ross, “U and non-U”, in David Milsted,Brewer’s Anthology of England and the English,page 120:
To TAKE a bath is non-U againstUto HAVE one’s bath.
1956, Nancy Mitford,Noblesse Oblige: an Inquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy:
In a treatise that still causes ripples in English society, Mitford defined various terms as eitherU (upper class) or non-U.
A wedding is a great occasion foru/non-u indicators. Theu mother will be quietly dressed; the non-u one will be more ostentatious and have a corsage. Theu father will be wearing his own morning coat and a carnation. The non-u father will bolster his carnation—on his hired morning coat—with a sprig of fern, and perhaps even carry a pair of grey gloves.
1976, J[an] T. J. Srzednicki, “Structure of Beliefs and Group Structure”, inElements of Social and Political Philosophy (Melbourne International Philosophy Series; 2), The Hague:Martinus Nijhoff,→DOI,→ISBN,page135:
TheU/non-U priority rule will be in accord with servant master-type rules if masters areU and servants are non-U, for then the rules support each other. But since a master who cannot command is not a master, a non-U sergeant must take priority over aU-recruit, the same with impoverished aristocratic chauffeurs working for nouveau-riche plebeian millionaires.
Was it all a huge joke … thisU and non-U business? Yes and no.John Betjeman assured me that it was. But some jokes have an element of cruelty and a great many sensitive people, particularly women, must have suffered agonies of embarrassment because they were uncertain as to what was 'done,' and what was not.
1992,John Algeo, “Sociolinguistic Attitudes and Issues in Contemporary Britain”, in Tim W[illiam] Machan, Charles T. Scott, editors,English in Its Social Contexts: Essays in Historical Sociolinguistics (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics), New York, N.Y.:Oxford University Press,→ISBN,page165:
The concept ofU (for upper-class British usage, as opposed to non-U, or everything else) was introduced by Alan S. C. Ross (1954) and was taken up by Nancy Mitford (1956), becoming for a time something of a parlor game in which the participants tested themselves and everyone else for signs ofU and non-U status.
1992, Stephan Gramley,Survey of Modern English,page38:
Other, perhaps more contentious generalizations, which nevertheless contain a certain amount of truth, are thatafternoon tea isU, starts at four and typically consists of tea, thin sandwiches and cakes.
1993,Philip Pettit, “For Holism, against Atomism”, inThe Common Mind: An Essay on Psychology, Society, and Politics, New York, N.Y.:Oxford University Press,→ISBN; 1st paperback edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press,1996,→ISBN, part II (Mind and Society),pages205–206:
To speak of lavatories isU, of bathrooms non-U; to lay cloth napkins at table isU, to lay paper napkins non-U; and so on through a myriad of equally trivial examples. I assume that there is something distinctively collusive in the way Sloanes use theU-concept: that as they individually decide whether something isU or non-U they look over their shoulders to make sure they stay in step—the community is the authority—rather than looking to the thing itself to see what profile it displays.
Eventually, as we now know, the present-day use oflunch anddinner became established among the fashionable classes. As the 20th century dawned, the pages ofPunch magazine are full of references to businesslunches and eveningdinner parties. Meanwhile, the lower orders of society continued to usedinner for their midday meal, and so theU/non-U distinction was born. But the story oflunch anddinner is not over yet. Expressions such aslunch-box andpacked lunch have reinforced a change of usage among many non-U children, so that they now happily talk aboutschool lunches (though still served by dinner ladies).
^Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross (1954) “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, inNeuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications][1], volume55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society,→ISSN,→JSTOR,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on15 April 2015, footnote 2, page21:
In this article I use the termsupper class (abbreviated:U),correct,proper,legitimate,appropriate (sometimes alsopossible) and similar expressions (including some containing the wordshould) to designate usages of the upper class; their antonyms (non-U,incorrect,not proper,not legitimate, etc.) to designate usages which are not upper class. These terms are, of course, used factually and not in reprobation [...].Normal means common to bothU and non-U.
In the German-based spelling,/ø/ is represented byÖ, while/y/,/yː/ are represented byÜ (see these).
In the Dutch-based spelling, both short/u/ and long/uː/ are writtenoe. The short vowel is optionally indicated in open syllables by doubling the following consonant:floeppeorfloepe.
Doubling of U
In the German-based spelling, longu may be doubled tou in the following cases:
when it is followed by two or more consonants:DuurschorDursch;
when the German cognate has two vowel letters:HuusorHus (GermanHaus);
when the German cognate has a short vowel:FuuderorFuder (GermanFutter).
In the Dutch-based spelling, both short/y/ and long/yː/ are always writtenuu in closed syllables,u in open syllables.
FromEnglishU. The sense of“university”, is short foruniversity and the sense of“subject failed in examinations” is short forunclassified as written on the results notice.
The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. Seethe Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, andU for information on the development of the glyph itself.
Used in linguistic descriptions in Finnish. For example, a Finnish grammar could use-nUt to refer to the suffix-nut (in e.g.juonut) or-nyt (in e.g.tehnyt).
The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See theKashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, andU for development of the glyph itself.
Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed byK. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.
The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See thehistory of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, andU for development of the glyph itself.
The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See theSilesian language article on Wikipedia for more, andU for development of the glyph itself.
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “U”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2003;“U,adj.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
U and non-U English on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
