Author criticizes imprecise speech and junk food littering
9 reported
Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, wrote an opinion piece published in The Guardian on June 13, 2026, expressing irritation with litter from junk food outlets thrown from car windows in the Norfolk countryside where he lives. He also criticized what he called a fashion for imprecise and redundant speech, particularly the frequent use of the word “like” as a grammatical filler. De Bernières stated that he inherited his disdain for such speech from his father, who disliked the transatlantic accent and vocabulary of the 1960s and 1970s. He described a visit to a sixth-form group where a young woman used “like” so often that it took her five minutes to say something that should have taken five seconds. De Bernières said he can no longer listen to BBC Radio 4 because it has been rejigged for younger people who use “like,” making it feel for him like being hit repeatedly on the head with a foam rubber mallet by a stoned Barbary ape. He speculated whether “junk speech” has any connection with junk food consumption and rural littering.
What’s reported
Louis de Bernières lives in the Norfolk countryside and is irritated by litter thrown from car windows outside his house.
The litter is always from junk food outlets.
De Bernières never eats junk food and never throws litter out of his window.
He criticizes the fashion for imprecise and redundant speech, especially the word “like.”
He inherited this disdain from his father, who disliked the transatlantic accent and vocabulary of the 1960s and 1970s.
He spoke to a sixth-form group where a young woman used “like” so much that it took her five minutes to say something that should have taken five seconds.
He said he can no longer listen to Radio 4 because it has been rejigged for younger people who say “like.”
He coined the Greek-derived word “misosaskopeslexis” meaning hatred of pointless words.
His fourth novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, became a worldwide bestseller in 1994.
Key figures
Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Sources: The Guardian
