To think that many Mumsnetters despise regional accents and dialects?

What I find strange about the MN resistance to regionalisms is.... aren't regionalisms great? Isn't it amazing that after centuries of attempts to standardise the English language, whether by force, "education" or shame, people cross these islands have nevertheless managed to hang onto their accents and dialects and even languages? Isn't it cool to be able to experience such variety in a relatively small area? Why would anyone want everyone to be exactly the same? If I travel somewhere, I want it to feel different. I want there to be different cultures, customs and languages. I want it to have a sense of place and for the people to have a sense of local identity.

Not exactly on topic, but I personally can't stand people who say they're from a northern area and still live there - say Newcastle or Liverpool (I'm from Wearside), have never lived or worked elsewhere, but still don't speak in the local accent and instead use a neutral/BBC one instead. I went to uni in Manchester and came across this a lot- I'd be really taken aback when I'd ask them where they were from and they reply "oh just outside Oldham" or something like that 😠 (one silly cow with one of these accents- think she was a student- was taking the piss out my accent on the 86 bus- I gave her a punch she'll never forget! (This wss before Bee Network and no cameras). I live in Liverpool now- if anyone with a posh accent says they're from Liverpool I'm going to punch them!

Got to be honest, that is quite weird. So if someone hasn’t acquired the local accent, you plan to punch them?

I grew up in Brighton but never acquired the Brighton accent (there is one - you hear it on the outskirts but not really in the centre near the train station). My parents were Geordies and my Dad worked at the university (so their friends were from lots of places, not just the town in lived in). It often made school quite uncomfortable - people assumed I was rich (a couple of teachers kept asking if I was going on the ski trip because it was oversubscribed - no, it was £500 and I didn’t want to ask my Mum) or just “other”.

But why? I mean, nowhere doesn’t have its population of ‘posh people’, who are less likely to speak in a regional accent.

When I was at university I met quite a few guys who said they were Scottish but spoke like the Prince of Wales.

And he definitely doesn't speak with a Welsh accent 😂

I grew up in the west of Scotland but I just didn't pick up a strong local accent for whatever reason - I have a complete inability to mimic accents, so how I speak is just how I speak. Many people think I'm Irish. Imo good on people who don't feel the need to adopt any particular accent to fit in.

@Missxxxyou assaulted someone because they made fun of your accent?

I’m going to gently suggest you curb your enthusiasm for punching folk.

I think there is a prejudice / veiled contempt for foreign accents. I've had to intervene on work calls with Indian and Italian colleagues due to the way they were being spoken to.

I don't see the same happen for colleagues with Scottish/Irish/Northern accents for example.

I understand our brains can find it harder to decode foreign accents but it doesn't excuse rudeness.

Listening to someone speaking with a foreign accent makes human brains work harder which can lead to unintentional discrimination against people communicating in languages other than their own, new research suggests.

Why do people discriminate against speakers with foreign accents? | Horizon Magazine