On 7 July the ESU, in partnership with the British Council, invited Professor David Crystal to give an evening lecture to celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible.

Professor Crystal, linguist, academic and author of over 120 publications on English language, discussed how the King James Bible has contributed to the development of our present day language. By first analysing the differences found in punctuation, grammar, word and sentence formation as the many similarities within the context of idiom, Professor Crystal delighted the audience as he demonstrated how phrases such as “a thorn in the flesh”, “a fly in the ointment” and “my brother’s keeper” have penetrated the English language and still continue to populate it today.

Using examples from the media, as well as film and television, Professor Crystal proved how, as Winston Churchill once described, the King James Bible was “a masterpiece” and had contributed far more to the development of the English language than any other literary source.