Speaking in French had become not only fashionable but also a sign of distinction of a properly groomed person. One may see a prominent example in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. While the cream of the high society could afford a genuine French gouvernante (governess, or female live-in tutor), the provincial "upper class" had problems. Still, the desire to show off their education produced what Aleksander Griboyedov's Woe from Wit termed "the mixture of the tongues: French with Nizhegorodian" (смесь языков: французского с нижегородским). French-Nizhegorodian was often used for comical effect in literature and theatre. See also Classical compound Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage Vulgarism Error (linguistics) Solecism References External links Grammar English grammar Ancient Greek Linguistic error Sociolinguistics Speech error de:Barbarismus