“No, but, yeah, but, no, but, yeah, but, no, but.” To the untrained ear, the youth of today can sound a bit like Vicky Pollard from the TV comedy Little Britain.

Only last week, Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson declared war on “yoof” language. Nanny McPhee star Thompson told Radio times she had been driven “insane” by people who do not speak properly.

She said: “I went to give a talk at my old school and the girls were all doing their ‘likes’ and ‘innits?’ and ‘it ain’ts’, which drives me insane.

“I told them, ‘Just don’t do it. Because it makes you sound stupid and you’re not stupid.’”

These days even primary school staff are being given English lessons because Ofsted inspectors believe their accents, poor grammar and use of slang set pupils a bad example.

“This week two teaching assistants at Trosnant Junior School in Havant, near Portsmouth, were heavily criticised in a report for their weak grasp of written and spoken English.

So have we lost the art of speaking properly? Well, Verwood author Martin Baum certainly doesn’t think so.

“Because of her portrayal of Nanny McPhee, Emma Thompson might be able to relate to a young audience. But as far as I see it she’s way out of touch with an older teen market who don’t actually know who she is,” says Martin Baum.

This summer the 50-year-old author published Oi Mate, Gimme Some More! – a yoof-speak guide to the novels of Charles Dickens that was a successor to his acclaimed To Be or Not to Be, Innit guide to Shakespeare.

“Since publication of my second book, I’ve been drafted in for interviews for the BBC and debated with Nick Seaton, chairman of the campaign for Real English.

“Maybe because more people are now getting the point of why I’ve created ‘Yoof-Speak’ by making literature fun and accessible, I feel there is an important right of reply to be heard.”

According to the author, the youth language of today with its “innits” and “likes” is all part of the changing English language.

“By deliberately misspelling words in text messages, the young of today are creating new words. I’m all for improving education, but this is the natural evolution of language.”

l Martin Baum will be inspiring writers at Bournemouth’s literary festival this month. He will be at beach huts 2310, 2311 and 2312 between the Happylands Arcade and the West Cliff lift between 3pm and 5pm on Saturday, October 23.