The Queen's English
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
See ENGLISH. The Queen's Pipe, A name given in Queen Victoria's reign to a furnace at the Victoria Docks for destroying (by the Inland Revenue authorities) contraband and worthless tobacco, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Queen's English” mean?
See ENGLISH. The Queen's Pipe, A name given in Queen Victoria's reign to a furnace at the Victoria Docks for destroying (by the Inland Revenue authorities) contraband and worthless tobacco, etc.
Is “The Queen's English” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.