To wonder what your views are on 'working class' accents

[Timri]

And think people need to learn the difference between the words correct and standard
Inspired by a comment by somebody saying they didn't look down on anybody's accent, but hated words being pronounced 'incorrectly' such as 'bovvered'.
Uhm, it's called th fronting and it's one of the central features of a cockney accent FFS.
Please tell me I'm not alone in this?

[derxa]

I love a good accent thread.
What is a 'working class' thread.

[derxa]

*working class accent ffs

[ZenNudist]

I am northern and therefore my accent sounds more 'common' than Home Counties etc. But I'm not working class and I'm nicely spoken... For a northern lass like...

Presumably you can have a cut glass accent but be common as muck... Go figure!

[EvaBING]

I've a deadly Irish accent. I love hearing strong accents. I quite like a posh English accent. Also like Cheryl double-barrelled-surname's accent.
As long as your accent is intelligible, I'm good!

Although - I do get rather annoyed at public announcements in what can only be described as a 'broken English accent' - simply because they are entirely pointless as nobody understands them!

[Timri]

derxa Well exactly.
I wonder what a 'workin class thread' would entail

[Sameshitdiffname]

I have an overly scouse accent for a female.

My dad and siblings are very scouse too.

My mum has a polish scouse accent.

They're doctors (I will hopefully be a doctor in a few years) would people still class then as working class due to their accent?

[Timri]

Same certain people, if they heard them in say, a supermarket, might make assumptions, I'd say.
It may be them working class, it may be that they are 'uneducated'.
Lots of people wouldn't of course.

[theycallmemellojello]

Come on people, don't be disingenuous: there is a correlation between accent and class which is not undermined by the fact that there are always outliers. I agree with you OP.

[goodnightdarthvader1]

People make assumptions about 'posh' accents too. It's ridiculous to suggest we don't stereotype.

[Seriouslyffs]

I like strong accents. Really hate mumbling though. So long as people speak clearly there are very few barriers no based on voice.

[dodobookends]

It isn't a class thing. You can be as common as muck but if your parents are rolling in it, they can send you to a 'naice' private school where they will teach you to speak proper, like.

[Sameshitdiffname]

I know some people with 'posh accents' who are common as muck

[theycallmemellojello]

Sorry, but it is a class thing, to some extent at least. If you came over to my workplace right now (barristers chambers) you'd be able to guess who was a lawyer and who was one of the workmen fixing up our reception area from the sound of their voice. Not saying there aren't a few lawyers with strong regional accents (few and far between at the London bar though!) or a few workmen who sound like the queen. But as a general statement, there's a correlation between class and accent.

[Timri]

I'm sure some people do DarthVader
Do they get accused of speaking 'incorrectly' though?

[Muskey]

Can somebody explain working class accents. You get regional accents. Class is about taste, education etc not about the way you speak

[goodnightdarthvader1]

You can be as common as muck but if your parents are rolling in it, they can send you to a 'naice' private school where they will teach you to speak proper, like.

Rubbish. I went to a local comprehensive school in a run down area in Essex, raised by two working class parents, one from Essex and one from North America. I speak well because my parents encouraged it, and didn't put up with me imitating my peers and dropping my "th"s and saying "innit".

Timri, sometimes they do, usually by 'working class' people. I've been told to "talk normal!" and I know people who speak very poshly told to take the plum out of their mouth (or other things out of their backside). Basically, everyone thinks the way THEY speak is the "right" way.

[goodnightdarthvader1]

Can somebody explain working class accents.

You know perfectly well what we're talking about. A dock worker in East London doesn't sound like the Queen, does he? As a PP mentioned, class and accents are intertwined. I suppose OP is referring "Estuary" English, or "chavvy" / "London / Essex council estate" accents.

[southeastastra]

this thread is chavvist I will report!

[dodobookends]

Darth - I went to much the same school as you, and my parents also encouraged me to speak well. The point I was making was that social class has nothing to do with accent as you can be taught 'received' pronunciation.

Mellojello you are making an assumption here - that workmen are automatically a lower class than the lawyers in your office. I always thought that those in the legal profession were taught never to make assumptions...

[squoosh]

I like a good strong accent.

'Eeee Doris, will thou accompany me t'dance?'

That's how they speak in Yorkshire isn't it?

[CruCru]

I don't much like the accent where I'm from (South Coast) but find northern accents rather unremarkable. I think an accent / dialect is only "incorrect" if it is incomprehensible - I've had trouble understanding people in shops because their spoken English (not their accent) is so poor (and these are English people).

[Muskey]

Goodnight I'm not trying to turn this into a bun fight. You can have an accent from the east end of London for example which may or may not be an indicator of what class (which in this day and age is a misnomer) somebody belongs to. I am Welsh with a strong accent. Am I working class?

[goodnightdarthvader1]

Mellojello you are making an assumption here - that workmen are automatically a lower class than the lawyers in your office. I always thought that those in the legal profession were taught never to make assumptions...

She's making a logical assumption based on the usual set of circumstances. None of the builders that came to my house last week sounded like John Snow (the news one, not the GOT one).

However, there are more and more young barristers now coming from 'low class' areas and going to university and qualifying, so I think the trend will continue to change, and accents will gradually cease to be a reliable indicator.

And dodo, yes, you can be taught to speak more nicely, but again, it's not a usual set of circumstances.