King's English is a 16th-century coinage that names "standard, pure, or correct English speech or usage." The reason today's terms don't qualify as the King's English is because each crops up in British dialect—in colorful British dialect, in our estimation.

Consider just a couple of words we found under the letter C. There's channer ("to scold complainingly; mutter, or grumble"); the similar chunter ("to talk in a low inarticulate way; mutter, or grumble"); and crake ("complain, or fret"). When enough channering, chuntering, and craking takes place, you might hear a chang. Chang denotes "an uproar, or some loud confused noise, as of talk or complaint."

But don't assume British dialect terms that begin with C only concern complaints. On the contrary. That's where we find cutter ("to talk confidentially or in a low voice"); and croodle ("to make a low murmuring sound" or to "cuddle or snuggle").