I’ll make thee sick at heart, before I leave thee, And groan, and die indeed, and be worth nothing, Not worth a blessing nor a bell to knell for thee […]

a horselike head

The high street was a place of utility once, with concentrated amenities. It was a place of wildly fluctuating codes of behaviour and scruples. Particular smells. Finicky proprietors. Honest johns. Crooks.

According to everything I've ever read, it is the opposite: English is undergoing a unification of dialects, especially between American and British variëties. English is growing and diversifying only in capabilities and vocabulary to the extent that is it picking these up, while it is beïng assimilated into the whole of World English too quickly to be a cause for dialecticalization.