What things are considered trashy if you’re poor but not if you’re wealthy?

[mummysmagicmedicine]

As someone who has been both, I am intrigued to hear what people think!

This,

I don’t think it’s just wealth. It’s background and “breeding”. People on this site are obsessed with the “nouveau riche” being trashy and “old money” being classy.

Having children that fail to launch eg in their twenties with no qualifications or job

She didn’t say that.

Basically Boris Johnson. Lots of kids, affairs, was shit at his job , lied, hid in fridges etc and is a scruffy mess but it’s ok as he’s posh. If he was old BJ from the estate with the same lifestyle and choices he would be much more heavily criticised.

Sorry but I don’t see these as the same.
If someone is in benefits I am contributing through my taxes.
If someone receives an inheritance and avoids tax by employing an excellent accountant, they will at least be providing a salary to the accountant and associated staff.

Being subsidised by the taxpayer

Exactly. Lazy, unkempt, doesn't know how many children he has, can't keep it in his pants, corrupt, racist, sexist, he lies when his mouth moves yet he's not Baz from the local estate, he's the Prime Minister because he went to a private school.

Driving round in an absolute old banger of a car.

Totally agree re the language, this is more to do with racial stereotypes than wealth though. Someone who speaks French at home as their mother is half French is regarded more highly than someone who speaks Urdu or Arabic at home. In terms of lingual ability they are both to be admired equally but let's face it, many people would see one as an asset and the other as a drawback.

Drinking in the park in a group ignoring your kids

Absolutely this.

A very rich but working class football and his wife doing any of those things listed would be deemed trashy regardless if his bank balance.

Driving 4x4s. Especially Range Rovers.

I had a school friend who was one of 5. Terribly clever family, frightfully rich. Massive house, always filthy. Elder brother was a pot head. Never judged them on any of this because they were rich and eccentric.

Switch that to a poor family with 5 kids and a filthy house and drug use. We’d all be judging.

The awful thing is that many speakers of these other languages have internalised that view. I taught at a uni with with a significant population of ethnic minority students, and multilingualism came up in a seminar. The majority of the ethnic minority students said things like ‘Oh, I’m crap at languages’— but they meant French or Spanish as taught at school. It didn’t even occur to them to ‘count’ Urdu or Punjabi, or their ‘home’ language.

Holes in your clothes

I would judge that depending if you ever drive off-road (parking on the pavement doesn't count) rather than wealth. So impoverished rural dwellers are allowed.

Having a big dog

Tax avoidance

Burberry

Edit

Being semi neglectful of your children.

definitely this

scruffiness

People on benefits contribute through taxes too, eg VAT, council tax etc. They actually contribute the amount they are supposed to because they can't afford to hire someone else to get them out of it.