Marquee

On 30 August 2006, the Gulf News listed the British Prime Ministers of the 20^th century. The top three were Thatcher, Attlee, and Heath.

Another British PM has just, justly, been expunged from British history books. Since his removal, I shall, of course, not mention his name.

He was concerned that German Barbarians from the East threatened Britain, and allied Britain with the Barbarians from the West. The Eastern Barbarians were defeated, but then the Western Barbarians ordered the dismantlement of the British Empire, and the reconstruction of the British language. By law:

the word 'corn' has ceased to include wheat; and

the word 'billion' has lost 99.9% of its value.

But, when the new Harry Potter book came out, the word 'marquee' still had its British meaning in most of the on-line dictionaries.

The word started out meaning the canopy covering the walkway leading to a hotel or theatre. Theatres typically put the name of the play and the actors on the marquee.

In American, marquee now means the sign over theatres that gives the name of the play or cinema and the actors, and no longer refers to the canopy. By extension, it refers to electronic signs with moving messages, and, by further extension, is a tag in HTML.

But, when I checked the on-line dictionaries (in response to the latest Harry Potter book), I found that the word is listed, first, with its usual British meaning of a marquee for a festivity (like a wedding or garden party), and then as a canopy for a hotel or other public building. The American meaning is either absent, or listed as a colloquial Americanism.

Sadly, American is rapidly replacing English as the latest lingua franca, and, as George Orwell warned, is rapidly politicizing the language.

But, at least the marquee is holding its own.