jo,

the way this one sunk, you might think that no one cares anymore.... actually®, I don't think there's much of a class issue here in the US. we have what Mencken called a "general Volkssprache for the whole nation, and if it is conditioned at all it is only by minor differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, and by the linguistic struggles of various groups of newcomers." what he claimed in 1936 is probably only moreso today. and as he goes on to point out, not even our neighbors to the north can match this characteristic, as there is a large minority in Canada that refuses to speak English altogether.