This is a revised edition of Peter Trudgill's introduction to that part of linguistics which is concerned with language as a social and cultural phenomenon. The text explores the close line between language and society, and the factors that influence the way we speak including: gender; age; environment; race and class; the part of the country we come from; whom we identify with; and whom we distrust. The many variations in spoken English are explored in depth, as well as related pidgins and creoles such as those of the West Indies. He shows how these are not just a form of broken English.