Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson has vented her frustration with some of the slang terms popular with today’s youth.

The Cambridge-educated actress, who starred in children’s favourite Nanny McPhee, bemoaned the use of words like “innit” and “likes” in particular following a recent visit to her old school, the Camden School for Girls in north London.

She told Radio Times: "We have to reinvest, I think, in the idea of articulacy as a form of personal human freedom and power.

"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."'

She argued that youngsters need to learn the occasions on which certain expressions are appropriate and when they are not.

"There is the necessity to have two languages – one that you use with your mates and the other that you need in any official capacity," she said.

The Oscar winner has recently finished writing a new screen version of the musical My Fair Lady, which is to star Carey Mulligan.

She went on to say that she could not imagine having plastic surgery without feeling “shame”.

“It really does seem to me to be quite psychologically dysfunctional and part of this ridiculous culture of perfection,” she said.