Language

Choice of words and style of language

The choice of words in “We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches” by Winston Churchill reflects a formal, emphatic style. The formal style is appropriate for the circumstances of the speech:

(…) an effort was made by the French and British Armies in Belgium to keep on holding the right hand of the Belgians and to give their own right hand to a newly created French Army which was to have advanced across the Somme in great strength to grasp it. (ll. 10-12)

The choice of words makes the speech generally easy to understand. However, Churchill sometimes uses more complex words such as “ignominious” (humiliated) (l. 53).

The speaker creates a contrast between negative words, which describe Britain’s losses and the danger of a Nazi invasion, and positive words that describe Britain’s immense efforts at Dunkirk, the nation’s unity, and its resolve to emerge victorious from a confrontation with the enemy.

A few relevant examples of negative words and phrases are “swept like a sharp scythe” (l. 13); “armoured and mechanized onslaught” (l. 19); “desperate fighting” (l. 25); “greatest military disaster” (l. 44); “ceaseless hail of bombs” (l. 92); “our losses in material are enormous” (l. 158), etc.

Some words that generate positive images are “memorable resistance” (l. 30); “A miracle of deliverance” (ll. 104-105); “the solid assurances of sea power and (…) air power” (ll. 226-227); “linked together in their cause and in their need” (ll. 234-235) etc.

The speaker uses a combination of personal pronouns throughout the speech – the most frequent are the third-person plural “they” and the first-person plural “we”. Plural pronouns help the speaker inspire a sense of unity in his audience: “we shall prove ourselves once again” (l. 229). The pronoun “they” is most often use...