Paraphrase: 1. English had come royally into its own. (para 13) 2. The phrase has always been used a little pejoratively and even facetiously by the lower classes. (para 15) 3. The rebellion against a cultural dominance is still there. (para 15) 4. There is always a great danger, as Carlyle put it, that "words will harden into things for us. " (para 16)