In Canada, Victoria Day is a public holiday. It celebrates Queen Victoria’s birthday. When I was thinking about this day, I remembered that we have a lot of phrases and expressions in English with the words queen and king!

 

 

The Queen’s/King’s English
= The English spoken in England.
The British like to remind the rest of the English-speaking world that they invented the language! The Queen’s English [if England is ruled by a queen] or the King’s English [if England is ruled by a king] is considered the purest, most correct English.

 

A queen-sized bed / a king-sized bed
In North America, we have different sizes of beds and mattresses:
single (the smallest)
double
queen
king (the largest)

 

A beauty queen
Someone who competes in and wins a lot of beauty pageants [contests] is called a beauty queen. For example, Miss USA, Miss America, Miss World, and Miss Universe can all be considered beauty queens. When a young woman wins a pageant like Miss USA, a crown is placed on her head.

 

A drama queen
A drama queen is someone who overreacts and turns small problems into big problems. She [it’s usualy a woman!] has a big reaction to a small problem.

 

A drag queen
A man who dresses like a woman. This is a specific type of man who tries to look like a woman by wearing make-up and wearing women’s clothing, so that when you look at him, you think you’re looking at an actual woman.

 

A drag king
A woman who dresses like a man. This does not mean that a woman who puts on pants is a drag king. This is a woman who tries to look exactly like a man by cutting her hair short, flattening her breasts and wearing men’s clothing, so that when you look at her, you think you’re looking at an actual man.

 

Who are you, the Queen of England?
If you think someone is acting like they are better than you, or smarter than you, or trying to boss you around, you can say to them, “Who are you, the Queen of England?” It’s another way of saying “Who are you to tell me what I can or can’t do?” or “Who do you think you are?”

What do you mean my cooking isn’t very good? Who are you, the Queen of England?

I don’t want to go to that bar tonight. The people who go there are aren’t very cool!
~ Who are you, the Queen of England?

 

…fit for a king
If something is fit for a king, it means that it is so good, it’s good enough for a king!

This is a meal fit for a king!

You should see their beautiful new house! It’s fit for a king!