Facts About Downton Abbey
12 Fascinating Facts You Probably Don't Know About "Downton Abbey"
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While "Downton" prides itself on being as historically accurate as possible, there's one area where the show intentionally allows some anachronisms to creep in: the language. Both the accents and the idioms used by the characters are a little more modern, mostly for clarity to viewers.
"Since language is subject to historical change, the scriptwriters of 'Downton' have adapted the English of the 20th century to ensure its easy accessibility to the modern viewer. Being too authentic, in this case, may have thrown the audience off course, making terminology — and the delivery of the Dowager Countess's one-liners — difficult for us to understand," explained Ted Mentele, an editor for Babbel's Didactics Team.