 During the Second World War from 1940 he worked for the Foreign Office, before returning to academic life in 1946 as a Lecturer in English Language at Birmingham University, becoming Reader the following year.He was Professor of English Language there from 1948 to 1951 and Professor of Linguistics 1951-74.In an article published in 1954, he coined the terms "U" and "non-U", on the differences that social class makes in English language usage.