Mr. Nigel Newton the chief executive of the Bloomsbury Inc. which co-published the dictionary with Microsoft Corp said that we should not stop the development of English with claims that there is only one true version. He explained that in reality the Queen's English is an outmoded and backward-looking concept and that its very strength is its adaptability.

Already English is the first language in 30 countries and some 75 other countries had adopted it as second language and these statistics are likely to grow with the passage of time. Mr. Newton predicted that by 2050, more than half of the world's population - an estimated 4.2 billion people - would have "competent" English and that the new dictionary would represent the language of English speakers from all corners of the globe. He said that his team of 320 experts based in 20 counties defined words and phrases from a global cultural perspective, rather than the culture or historical perspective of any one nation. Kathy Rooney, the editor - in - chief said "The argument for a new English dictionary using the world as its cultural perspective, is inescapable."

Will the phrase "NATIVE SPEAKER OF ENGLISH" degenerate into gobbledygook by AD 2050? Ed.