Viewers of the second series of Downton Abbey have been complaining that the characters from the 1920s period drama have been using phrases that are too modern.
Rob-James Collier, who plays footman Thomas Barrow, has used the phrase ‘get knotted’ and the sentence ‘I am fed up of seeing our lot get shafted’, both of which are believed to have originated in the 1960s.
Captain Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens, has used the modern sentence ‘you have been taking logic pills again’ while Joanne Froggatt, who plays head housemaid Anna Smith, has uttered the 1950s phrase ‘so everything in the garden is rosy?’
Chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, John Simpson, said: “We need to bear in mind that the programme is light entertainment and isn’t necessarily supposed to be an authentic picture of life in the early 20th century.
“Expressions may be anachronistic, and they may also be used by the ‘wrong’ class. That is common with costume drama.”
During series one of the show, viewers complained of a string of historical inaccuracies including the use of the word ‘boyfriend’, a modern conservatory and double yellow lines.
Una Maguire, a spokeswoman for Downton Abbey’s production company Carnival Films, was surprised that the use of language in series two has also been questioned. She said:
"We had a lot of complaints during the first series claiming there were anachronisms, but this is the first time something had been mentioned about the current series of Downton Abbey.”
Una admits that the writers got it wrong with the phrase ‘get shafted’ but dismissed the phrase ‘logic pills’ as Matthew using his wit and humour and defended the use of ‘get knotted’, claiming that it was a common 19th century naval term.
She also defended the phrase 'everything in the garden is rosy', saying it came into use in around 1917 before gaining in popularity during the 1920s.
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