To be upset at a friend imitating/making fun of my DD's accent?

[emy72]

We live "up North" and our children all have a slight regional accent, which I think it's actually quite endearing.

We had friends over to stay who live in the South of England, and when my DD said something, one of them piped up "she has a right northern accent, hasn't she?" in a real mockery tone, imitating the accent in an exaggerated/mickey taking way?

I was really upset and stone silenced her. Am I BU to be hurt at a supposed friend making fun of my DD's accent, especially in front of her?

Do any of you who are saying "chill" have accents that were laughed at as children?

Would you say it was alright to laugh at other characteristics that people have? Where would you draw the line?

My uncles in Dublin always imitated my 'cockney' accent. I haven't got a cockney accent btw . They think everyone in London is a cockney. DH is from Glasgow and his brother always mimics the dcs and myself but then he's an idiot . Ds (8 yo) was a bit upset with some older American boys who he thought were making fun of him on holiday but I said they were probably just trying to imitatew his accent and I didn't think they were being horrible. He went back out to play and they were all friends by the end of the day - nothing wrong with accents, we all have them.

GooseyLoosey - it's 'laughing with' not 'laughing at' - there honestly is a difference.

One's mean-spirited and the other is not. It's better to try to understand that and get on with it than to get offended when no fence is meant. :)

No offence is meant...!

When I was an instructor I commonly worked with kids from all over, mainly up north though. They took the mick out of my accent (southerner), I took the mick out of theirs. Kids tend to be quite cool about it really, they're just as amused by different accents as adults are! Just let it rest, she probably meant it in a humourous sense more than anything!

An adult making fun of a (quite young in this case) child is wrong for ANY reason. I don't think YABU OP. I wouldn't have liked it either.

It doesn't sound like your friend meant it to be nasty though, so I would just let it go tbh.

MIL used to make mild fun of DCs southern accents. In principle no problem but what annoyed me was that she got it wrong! eg Coike for cake. They never spoke like that - ever - it was just her impression of what a southern accent was like.
But she's lovely otherise so we let it pass.

Do any of you who are saying "chill" have accents that were laughed at as children?

Yes, both my parents are Southern Irish and I'm sort of Cockney/Essex...mickey taking all round in our house and indeed in the whole family.

You should hear my 'Oirish accent' and my Dad's 'Nah wot I mean' retorts

Yes, GooseyLoosey, I have the most appaling Bangor accent, and adults used to imitate me when I was a child... Didn't bother me, doesn't bother me, I love diversity. :)

YABU, was it really meant to offend?

Yes, like I said. 13k miles different.

The people telling me to fuck off where I came from I had a problem with. People trying to talk like me were hilarious.

Goosey, I have a cockny accent. My DH calls me London quite often. My DD takes the piss out of the way I speak. Often. It is easy to rip the piss out of her when she does it though. she sounds like Dick Van Dyke does jolly cock-er-nee accent.

I take your points and I think you can "laugh with" family and your own close friends. I really don't think that you can laugh with someone else's small child.

It depends on the spirit in which it was done,

my family are all geordies and have always called me the 'Yorkshire pudding' and making fun of phrases I use which are very Yorshire.

unless you can tell it was meant to be hurtful I wouldnt make a big deal tbh

I think you need to take it in the spirit intended. ie, probably not ment in a nasty way. my family take the mick a bit of each other inc adults micky taking of the children and neither is ment offencivly or offence ever taken.

YABU. I doubt it was intended to offend. Chill out.

bit precious and over reacting imo :)

I take the mick out of my children because their northern accent is stronger than mine!!

(They are from the northern parts we are now, I'm not!)

Agree with McHobbes. Don't be so sensitive.

I am an American living in England, married to a Scottish man that has been living in England for most of his life. Our DD doesn't have a chance in hell of NOT being teased for her accent since she will sound British but say American words like me. Poor thing, she will definitely have to have some thick skin!!! :)

I know where the op is coming from as my FIL does this, nearly every time my kids open their mouths (he lives in Scotland, we are north of England). I used to get a bit upset by it at first, especially when she was my only child, but now I just shrug it off or reply with "better a Yorkshire accent than a Glaswegian one!". I think its the novelty of hearing another accent (all the other grandkids are Glaswegian) that he is remarking upon, more than a personal attack. Now that DD is no longer my pfb I can take these things in jest!

My mum is still in shock when she hears my boys talk and calls them Hovis!!

Yes my DH also thinks I am being sensitive, so I agree I was.

However I do have 4 kids so I don't think I am precious about my DD! I just think sometimes I expect other people to behave the same way I would, but everyone has different ways to relate to people, I guess.

I think you're completely overreacting here, OP. There is a different in Southern and Northern accents and what you perceive to be 'mockery' might have just been a jovial observation.

Why on earth would you friend make a hurtful observation? Surely you wouldn't have a friend who does that?

I think you were oversensitive for some reason, perhaps you feel that people judge you for your accents. Your children won't care a jot, please don't coddle them or they really will grow up lily-livered over everything and anything.

BTW... I absolutely LOVE the Northern accent... :)