Disrespectful to make fun of another poster because they speak and write differently because they are from the US

[StopThinkBeforeYouJudge]

Just that really.
I saw a post and within it another poster decided it was annoying the way another poster had written the word "y'all".Plenty of Southerners,not just Texans used this word daily.It was really strange how she kept on about it and even said we "y'all " sayers shouldn't even write it out here on mumsnet. Personally I'm from the state that has lots of tornadoes fyi.
But I've never seen anyone nor would I ever dare tell another poster how to spell words or how to put them on paper,EVER.
It's not a UK,US thing at all.
I just think we need to respect each other more.
I'm aware there will be some that come for me on here,but I will still continue to encourage us all to respect each other more.

Both are proverbial. You are exposing the gaps in your knowledge. From the dustman to the duke or vice versa is a well known phrase usually employed in the context of treating everyone in society the same regardless of their standing, the duke and the dustman are equal before the law f. e.

No, it means the person using the term is transparently doing so because they want to attempt to appear cool. People are pretty good at identifying the natural and the affected. The affected can never be cool because it’s too try hard.

So is it ever prattish for British people to use British slang?

Or is it only American slang that is try-hard?

But the language we use is tied up with our cultural identity, I think my DC, like me have a certain identity which they need to be aware of and is relevant to their life and how they came to be here, borrowing colloquialisms that are not part of their make up takes something away from their heritage. Why is that thought of as xenophobic, a good example of this was the Britpop music scene in the 90s that was about rejecting the Grunge scene which was mostly American and wanting to hold on to our own cultural identity. I was a Grunge fan but then quickly moved on to Indie music that appealed to me because I understand the reflections on mundane Suburban life living in fairly uneventful part of South west London at the time. I also understood the very British references to class divide that Pulp made in their lyrics much more than I did when listening to the Lemonheads for example.

it means the person using the term is transparently doing so because they want to attempt to appear cool. People are pretty good at identifying the natural and the affected. The affected can never be cool because it’s too try hard.

In other words, people should stay in their lanes.

I am Irish. The cringe comes from the mixture of pity and second hand embarrassment one feels from witnessing someone trying too hard. It’s nothing to do with ‘staying in your lane’ I am personally very much not someone who stays in their class lane. People can usually identify quite easily where a person is trying to appear to be cooler or other when they aren’t. That’s a perennial source of humour as all humans can relate to someone trying to pretend to be something they aren’t. The tension there builds the humour.
‘Was the 1 out of 100 children who retained the American accent directly challenged about it all those decades ago? Was he the subject of conversations behind his back? How very sad, if so.’ you might want to lie down, but they were ridiculed to their face, usually most of all by their own family. Because the 99/100 other children managed to come home speaking the same as they did when they left. There’s always one isn’t there though 🤷‍♀️ Attention seeking. It is incorrect to say retained the accent, that would imply they had the accent to begin with. They didn’t. They put it on on their return in an affected attempt to, guess what?!, get more attention!!!!

Alas, no, it really has nothing to do with equality and much to do with common knowledge, common understanding, common saying, i.e. walking under the ladder resulted in the proverbial seven years of bad luck. Your phrasing was also unclear, as in, did you mean proverbial duke and actual dustman, or proverbial duke and proverbial dustman? Although one has to admire someone who can find proverbial agreement between those proverbial two poles, even when it is imaginary, bless your heart.

Why would it be prattish to use the normal manner of speaking in the country or place you are from??? If you are putting it on, you are a bit of a Pratt, think that’s a good rule of thumb.

No, people should be proud of who they are. Trying to fake a personality or style is always a failure, people can see it a mile off. Far better and healthier all round to accept yourself the way you are. Pretending to be from Little Rock, Arkansas is not liberation or being your best self.

Ok so just the typical nativist argument that always come out on threads about Americans.

No one using British slang is ever trying to be cool or try-hard, I mean come on.

Wow. This has taken off. I’m the poster the OP is referring to. I wasn’t making fun of anyone. It was,As someone pointed out in this long thread, a comment on ‘y’all’ being used on social media as a casual way of talking. Rock on if you’re Southern and that’s how you talk. It was more the non Americans using y’all as an appropriation of another culture. It’s modern slang really.

I did make an assumption that the OP wasn’t American as I genuinely didn’t realise MN was popular there.

I suppose it’s linguistically and culturally interesting how it’s become so widespread. I still don’t like it though. Unless it’s your regional way of talking. If it’s been appropriated by Kevin from Birmingham I might find it irritating still.

Nativist??? What are you on about???
As if said in my previous post if you are putting it on - whatever it is - you are usually a bit of a Pratt. That may include using any kind of slang. If you are English and using Americanisms though you are defo a bit of a Wally.

@Eyerollcentral

I am Irish. The cringe comes from the mixture of pity and second hand embarrassment one feels from witnessing someone trying too hard.

This is not something you should accept as innate, unchangeable, or immutable about yourself - it's not any of that. It's a perceptual problem arising from a specific cultural milieu.

Being Irish (from NI) doesn't mean you don't suffer from a peculiarly British problem based in class boundary policing, and NI comes with its own set of problems based on group boundaries and very rigid policing thereof.

It’s nothing to do with ‘staying in your lane’ I am personally very much not someone who stays in their class lane.

You have said several things on this thread that suggest otherwise.
You have claimed to use the Hiberno English of your place of origin despite living elsewhere. You have used phrases indicating a heightened radar for 'pretending to be someone you're not', and 'artifice', etc. You recounted a story of 1 in 100 children who picked up an American accent in the US, which you still call 'attention seeking'. This is all 'stay in your lane' preoccupation whether you recognise it as such or not. I think you do have a strong sense of group identification and an unwillingness to stray out of your particular lane.

People can usually identify quite easily where a person is trying to appear to be cooler or other when they aren’t. That’s a perennial source of humour as all humans can relate to someone trying to pretend to be something they aren’t. The tension there builds the humour.

Or maybe they're not trying to amuse or entertain you, and the way they speak is really no business of yours, certainly not something to get your knickers in a twist about?

The discomfort and the fixation with 'artifice' or people allegedly 'pretending to be something they aren't' is all about boundaries - policing them, identifying breaches, judging and punishing those who stray across them. Staying in your own lane can apply to class, to nationality, to tribal identity. Americans are the ultimate unplaceable elements in the British world. You can't tell from looking at most of them or listening to them how much they make or what their job is. They are casual, they don't speak or observe the British code - hence the hackles, because having a place and knowing that place is very important in the hierarchical British system. The British people who use American slang are guilty of thumbing their nose at the system so many of their fellow citizens are heavily invested in. It's the ultimate British social treason to simply stop playing the game, stop speaking the code.

"‘Was the 1 out of 100 children who retained the American accent directly challenged about it all those decades ago? Was he the subject of conversations behind his back? How very sad, if so...’"

...they were ridiculed to their face, usually most of all by their own family. Because the 99/100 other children managed to come home speaking the same as they did when they left. There’s always one isn’t there though 🤷‍♀️ Attention seeking. It is incorrect to say retained the accent, that would imply they had the accent to begin with. They didn’t. They put it on on their return in an affected attempt to, guess what?!, get more attention!!!!

There’s always one isn’t there though

They put it on on their return in an affected attempt to, guess what?!, get more attention!!!!

God, that's even worse than I imagined at first.
The fact that you seem to have absolutely no understanding of this child and in fact join in the judgement of people who, frankly, bullied him explains a lot. NI has its own dynamic of course - deeply ingrained tribalism. Woe betide the person who steps out of their lane there.

...people should be proud of who they are. Trying to fake a personality or style is always a failure, people can see it a mile off. Far better and healthier all round to accept yourself the way you are.

Yes, there it is again.

‘This is not something you should accept as innate, unchangeable, or immutable about yourself - it's not any of that. It's a perceptual problem arising from a specific cultural milieu.’ ha ha ha ha oh dear. No thanks, I don’t have a perception problem. I am pretty good at spotting when someone when is a bit of a Wally and when someone is, for example, a pretentious and pompous ass.
‘Being Irish (from NI) doesn't mean you don't suffer from a peculiarly British problem based in class boundary policing, and NI comes with its own set of problems based on group boundaries and very rigid policing thereof.’ thank you for Britsplaning my life to me. You haven’t a clue dear. I wouldn’t try to say any more about this to me, it will end very badly for you.
‘I think you do have a strong sense of group identification and an unwillingness to stray out of your particular lane’ you are so embarrassing yourself. You are talking about things you have absolutely no idea about. I am from a working class background, I attended a prestigious university for my undergraduate degree, I am a qualified professional and I have worked and studied all over the world. What lane did I stay in again??? 🧐
‘Americans are the ultimate unplaceable elements in the British world.’ maybe to you. I’ve spent a lot of time in the States, I know and indeed am related to quite a few Americans of various backgrounds and I’ve worked there myself. YOU don’t know the code(s).
‘The fact that you seem to have absolutely no understanding of this child’ well I’d imagine I’d have a better idea than you about them, considering I was at school with and lived in the same area as them.
‘NI has its own dynamic of course - deeply ingrained tribalism.’ What an Anglo way of looking at it. A more informed view might be that the inevitable civil war in N. I. and it’s outworkings were the predictable results of centuries of the divide and rule playbook devised and perfected by the British Empire. Any casual observer would note that there are examples of ‘deeply ingrained tribalism’ leading to conflict in a great many of the places that colonial rule was endured. But obvs you know better and it’s just a case of those stupid paddies fighting with one another and ‘staying in their lanes’, eh?
‘Woe betide the person who steps out of their lane there’ tell me you know nothing about NI without telling me you know nothing about NI. Society here is as nuanced, possibly more so, than most other places. Shallow, ill-informed people such as you have shallow, ill-informed opinions. One thing that is very common across NI though is a sense of humour, a vital tool to help people navigate the difficulties of life with good humour. Hence you can laugh at your neighbour and be laughed at in return when you make a Pratt out of yourself. Indeed I’m laughing at you right now.

@Eyerollcentral

I attended a prestigious university for my undergraduate degree, I am a qualified professional and I have worked and studied all over the world. What lane did I stay in again???

As did I, as am I, as have I. Additionally, I'm American but have been resident in the UK for over a dozen years, and I'd say the lane you've stayed in is absolute pretentious wanker (to borrow some slang). The ability to laugh at yourself has not evidenced itself on this thread.

Please rest assured I’ve an excellent sense of humour. Never been called a pretentious wanker before, first time for everything I guess! Suppose I’d be better off joining the ranks of the y’allers, those most unpretentious li’l fakers. You’ve defo convinced me.

Just a few points:

1
I am Irish. I'm very well aware of the history of NI. I'm also well aware of the dynamics of tribalism - university education and all that. Plus a stint in NI itself. Nuance only goes so far in NI. Dig down a little below the surface and you get to the bedrock of tribalism.

2
I live in the US. I've been here living and working and bringing up five American children for several decades. I've been married to an American, and I am related to quite a few Americans.

3
'I'm laughing at you right now' is a completely predictable retort on your part. Given the account of the child bullied for using an American accent, it doesn't surprise me that you resort to a comment like that.

And the meaning of 'making a Pratt out of yourself' is 'straying out of your lane'.

1. But you aren’t from NI. Yet you still presumed to tell me, born and bred in Belfast, how it is. You attempted to reduce a complex problem arising out of colonialism to ‘ingrained tribalism’, which says a lot about you, ESPECIALLY as an Irish person. The partitionist mindset rides again and is writ large throughout your previous post.
2. So you live in America but I can’t understand the ‘code’ of American speech because you see me as British? Good one.
3. A child laughed at and told to wise up due to putting on an American accent after six weeks out of the country. They didn’t actually have an American accent, you do understand that don’t you? Knowing women who did this very thing as a child now as adults they do heartily laugh at having done it, the way most of us do about childhood silliness of one kind or another. Must be that ingrained tribalism that means am still in touch with them I guess 🤷‍♀️

No, it isn’t. You can make a Pratt out of yourself by falling over. ‘Lanes’ have nothing to do with it. You are very invested in the idea of ‘lanes’, the more you post the more it seems to do with projection than anything else. You’ve tried to ‘lane’ me several times and been shown to be wrong but are still clinging to the concept.

The only thing I dislike about US English is when my ds runs on about parking lots and garbage cans and such like.
I use "butt" a lot because "bum" makes me feel like I'm 3 and "arse" is generally not acceptable to say in front of small people.

*Bless your heart. It's arrogant to think thus statement is true enough to even make it.

Of course "a single person" can and do change their mind after reading something. Will it happen for majority of nobs? No. But decent people who're otherwise stupid enough to not realise something at first, can and do realise their wrong from this so-called "virtual-signaling" posts. They probably never tell you.*

And bless your heart if you think that putting up a preachy post telling people to #BeKind is going to make arseholes stop acting like arseholes. Your posts to pretty much all of the other posters on this thread make my point perfectly - so thank you.

Gosh, there is some insane judgment on this thread.

My kids have an American parent and a British parent. We don’t live in either country, and haven’t since they were babies. None of us has a ‘pure’ accent anymore, especially not the children. I have spent more of my life outside of my home country than in it, and almost nobody in my social group for the last 10 years has my ‘home’ accent, so yes, I probably sound different to how I did as a child. Our children have sort of a transatlantic mix with some jargon from our current country (where they have grown up) thrown in.

I can tell that the most judgmental people about this are the ones who have never spent any significant amount of time outside of their home accent area, especially British ones. I’d love to see how ‘Shirley who has never lived more than a 2 hour drive from home’ would cope if she were solidly immersed in another anglophone accent for a decade. I find that people are actually more forgiving of Brits adapting Americanisms than the other way around, but either way, there is clearly no greater sin amongst the British public than to be perceived to be pretending to be something you aren’t.

Funny how it‘s the ones whose lives are the most insular who are most keen to enforce these societal rules. It’s human instinct to subconsciously begin to adapt to the speech patterns and habits of the group you’re living among. A few millennia ago, the ability to adapt is what separated the survivors from the ones who died off.

We had a visitor from the UK a few weeks ago make a snide comment about how all the kids have ‘very strange accents’, as if we as the parents were trying so hard to ditch our own accents that we had ruined our children’s speech patterns.

A different visitor from the US a few months ago made a similarly snide comment, but from the other side. “Isn’t it strange they sound more like parent A than parent B”. And of course, parent B’s accent is the American one.

Does that make us a family of try-hards?

< Lobs grenade > What do we all think about non-American singers singing in an American accent, then? < runs away and hides >