Supposedly ’posh’ things you think are common *trigger warning this is light hearted*

[ReadingWorm]

Obviously lighthearted and no need to explain your rational. But what are things that some people consider high end/ posh/ classy/ aspirational (I know they are not necessarily the same thing) that you don’t like/ think are tacky/ common / etc.

Again this is light hearted. We can complain but we must never explain!!!!!!

Here is my list.

Molton Brown hand wash
M&S food shop
American Style Fridges
Having a tan
Talking about exercising
Beauty Advent Calendars
Designer toasters and kettles
House of Fraser department stores
Posting photos from 1st class travel on instagram
Referring to your car by its brand name
Talking about your ‘forever home’
Shopping in Space NK
Visiting Disney World
Listening to Classic FM

Thought of another one- Farrow and Ball paint!!! Oh and having your entire home clad in White Company linen and decor

Did they?! Lost my money so through lack of thorough reading. Lesson learnt, no more betting for me.

Well that is a proper puzzler isn't it? What about "evening meal"? Or what about in a different language? In French seems the most likely.

It’s fashion, I guess. Works other way round too. Working class kids wear £200 branded trainers and tracksuits. We live in a v mixed area, where the posh kids wear cheap, tatty or outgrown clothes and the working class kids wear the expensive, good condition stuff.

It’s diner in French 😁 (with an accent over the i)

I dream of having my home being kitted out by The White Company, and that smell 😊

It's the accent that helps makes it posh. Along with the words no nonsense attitude of only needing one letter of each type.

I mean having a no nonsense attitude is very posh isn't it?

Same. When I was a kid we got all our clothes from markets. My Nan thought BHS was v posh because nearest one on Oxford Street in London and they only used to go there for Xmas shopping. I think that’s before it became common on most High Streets. BHS to us was like Selfridges is now.

BMW's or Audi's in bright blue or white...its all LOOK AT ME !!

is this response for real? That’s so funny 😂

who on earth is so precious about an outfit for dinner? I guess there is an element of common here after all

The House of Lords. A hereditary legislature is so tacky: clannish, hermetic grifters. Almost always less than 50% attendance. In fact, hereditary titles and the distinction between 'Lords' and 'Commons' is pretty tacky.

'Posh' is such an English concept with so many different elements mixed in. Could there be an equivalent American thread - supposedly fancy things you think are - what would be the stand-in for common?

Though 'fancy' doesn't as far as I understand it, imply any kind of multigenerational inherited wealth or status. I still like it much more than 'posh' but would be very interested in an American critique.

I don't think this is an accurate understanding of American culture. There are absolutely people with "old money" and tacky new money people. Real old money isn't typically from an aristocratic class, it's still from a capitalist class, but it's very much a thing.

There's also a much more commonly seen distinction, that maps on to a lot of the things this thread is mentioning, between the upper middle class and the people who are either wc (what the UK would call chavs) and the people just above them trying to claw their way into the middle class.

I've loved this thread, so many things as kiddos that seemed so fancy to discover they weren't 😂
I mentioned this to my friend (this thread inspired me to ask her) and she told me she thought all supermarkets were called "the kwikky" when she was really small because she'd never been into a shop that wasn't the local kwik save 😂
She was telling me she went into a massive asda with her gran and they had a cafe in there and she couldn't get over how posh it all seemed.
It sounds so odd now but in the 90s I remember that most of our shopping was also done locally, local greengrocers/butchers etc all in the market.

If I use my local butcher nowadays it's very much for a special occasion meal and is me being "posh" 😁

I don't think this is an accurate understanding of American culture. There are absolutely people with "old money" and tacky new money people. Real old money isn't typically from an aristocratic class, it's still from a capitalist class, but it's very much a thing.

I know, I don't live under a rock. I also know that race and nation of family origin and American geography and history add all sorts of the nuances lacking in the UK.

But they don't use the word 'posh'. And 'fancy', which is used, has subtly different meanings. Likewise, common and tacky are not exact synonyms. Which is why I'd be interested in comments from US posters.

I was amused to see Classic FM on the list.

Someone at one of dh’s French conversation classes mentioned that he was a fan of classical music. So poor old dh, who’s not very well up in musical matters, said he supposed he listened to Classic FM then.

’Certainly not!’ was the offended reply. ‘When I’m at home, Radio Three only.’

I listen quite a lot to Classic Fm, so although he hasn’t actually said so, I know dh now thinks it’s something rather plebby, to keep quiet about!

Classic FM is the classical TOTP to Radio 3's Old Grey Whistle Test. And very useful it is to when Radio 3 goes a bit show tunes / choral music.

An M&S food shop really isn’t common, neither is classic FM.

Many expensive items are ‘common’ such as range rovers and designer clothes.

I think the word may be aspirational?

Are you suggesting wc people are ch@vs?

Well I think that's a rather rude thing to call someone. But it's more of a sub category I suppose.

I'm trying to describe a social group in the US that maps on somewhat but not perfectly to a social group in the UK. In this case wc or even underclass (could be either), but also with a certain kind of character, I guess you could say. Not your wc presbyterian grandma who was very proper and upright and always covered her hair in church. (Possibly some of us also have grandmas who fit in the other category.

I suppose in the US it could map on pretty well to the descriptor "white trash" which is also quite rude.

My overall point though was the idea that class does not exist in the US is simply untrue. It's pretty evident, even though people use somewhat different language to describe it.

Yeah, posh not at all.

Fancy seems not quite right.

Classy can get used a fair bit. Or more often, "low-class". Sometimes high-brow or low-brow.

I feel like I hear the lower end descriptors more than the higher end ones.

Back in the day, cars used to come in colour (I know, right!?).

These days is much more fashionable for them to be silver, grey, black, etc.

So I wouldn't say that bright blue or white was anyone thinking they were being posh. Just not going with the crowd and going for a colour they enjoy.

SUVs

The American old money were very much looked down upon by British old money, up until the point they needed cash injections and married into it. See ‘Dollar Princesses’.

anyway, unless you ancestors arrived from Normandy in 1066 you’re probably shit out of luck when it comes to claiming poshness. It’s all just noise about what determines the better type of commoner.