to be bored of the open season on "posh" accents?

[Asteria36]

I am unbelievably bored of people treating my "posh" accent as a totally acceptable object of ridicule. Is this just me, or do other people find that in groups with mixed accents they feel honed in on and ridiculed for the way they speak? I wouldn't dream of singling out and poking fun at someone for the way that they talk, but in the past when I have suggested that perhaps, like most people, I can't help the way I speak I have been met with hostility.
One particular acquaintance of ours has decided that it is perfectly acceptable to minimise comments I make in conversation by saying "rah rah rah" and accusing me being a snob - but in my opinion she is actually the one with the problem, not me. I don't care what you sound like, just don't behave like a cockwomble.

It is annoying that some people feel the need to comment on or mock accents. It says more about them than you. I have what DH describes as a "BBC accent" although hopefully not a 1950s one. I was very conscious of it as a child/teenager and made an effort to sound less "posh".

My non-accent is mistaken for Southern English. I've lived in the North of England for going on 20 years so can relate to the inverted snobbery that goes on.
It can get exhausting when people take offence at your accent but you get used to being an 'outsider'.

It sounds as if your "non-accent" is a Southern English one, even if you aren't from there.

How can it be if I've never lived south of the Midlands?

Next time she chants 'rah rah rah' I would chant "fight fight fight" and see how she reacted. But that's because I cannot stand people taking the piss out of the way other people talk. Although when people take the piss out of others or put others down it's usually because they feel intimidated or jealous of the person they are attacking and need to put them down in order to make their twisted selves feel better. So she's not worth it OP.

If you have adopted something like rp which uses Southern English pronounciation, you ought not to be surprised if you are mistaken for an (English) Southerner, even if you aren't. I know a bloke from Edinburgh who could pass for a local in Surrey. RP is not a non-accent; it's a South of England dialect adopted by many.

Btw I am not seeking to excuse unfair accent criticism, but it is quite simply untrue that RP is "no accent" or "not regional"

Daily Mail Video
Here's an example of Simon McCoy.
Please don't Google him for clues about origin or education. Would you classify him as accent free?

Infact, next time she starts rah rah rahing, just say
'oh, well done you dahling. Mummy always said it was to be commended when the serving classes attempted to imitate the speech of their betters. However she was simply incandescent the occasion teddy and I were imitating nanny, who spoke just like you, mummy dear said it was terribly ill- bred of us when nanny couldn't help her common mannerisms'.
And then hold up your middle finger and say 'swivel on this ya fucking peasant cunt'

Add message | Report | Message poster wasonthelist Fri 23-Oct-15 19:55:55
If you have adopted something like rp which uses Southern English pronounciation, you ought not to be surprised if you are mistaken for an (English) Southerner, even if you aren't. I know a bloke from Edinburgh who could pass for a local in Surrey. RP is not a non-accent; it's a South of England dialect adopted by many.

I haven't adopted anything sweetheart. I grew up with this accent.

Ok, watched the video. That man uses Southern English pronounciation of "up" and "drunk". I haven't googled him in any way. If you're going to tell me he was born in Glasgow and lived there until he was 8 then went to Zimbabwe for the rest of his life, it's irrelevant, he speaks with a Southern English accent. Again, I don't say this is a bad thing, but it is (to coin a current cliche) what it is.

Anybody else?

Sorry Cain, you are right - adopted was a loaded term in that context, I don't doubt you grew up with your accent. Perhaps like me, you are an amalgam such that Northerners call me a soft Southern bastard and Southerners call me a Thick Northern bastard - except for the woman from our Guildford office who once said to me (I was working in our Birmingham office ) "what are you doing working in that shithole, you sound as if you come from somewhere proper like here?

I bloody love accents, but there is no such thing as an accentless person imho.

YANBU. I have a 'posh' accent. I was born in St. Albans and my parents are both from there. My Brother and I both sound 'posh' but we are not! It has actually not caused him any problems. He is now an airline pilot and fits in perfectly.
I had a really tough time at school about it. I was horrifically bullied (my Father is a vicar as well which didn't help!) for being the 'posh' kid. Now I happen to live in an area where LOTS of people sound FAR 'posher' than me so I can get on with being common!

Apology accepted, nothing to see here.

It's incredibly rude. One of my closest friends gets this because of her accent and it's shit. Someone even recently expressed surprise that she and I are friends because I'm from Glasgow. This woman seemed astounded that my 'posh' friend would even associate with the likes of me. Fucking weird.

Sgtmajormummy
The angst all this causes is awful.

I speak like Karl Pilkington. Northerners mock me for sounding posh and Southerners for sounding thick and chavvy. Can't win.

It does cause angst, perhaps because it feels like people are accusing you of not being who you are. If I had the accent of the area I was born I would have an identifiable identity, as it is I'm constantly challenged as if I'm a liar.

It's upsetting, insulting and after 40 years, exhausting.

Yeah, but it is what it is.

I moved from North London to Yorkshire when I was 11, went to school in Lancashire and had the piss ripped out of me from day 2. I think I was supposed to change, but I'm more stubborn than they could ever have imagined, and despite the relentless bullying for all of my school-life I haven't ever changed my voice.

It wasn't even a basic northern/southern thing, as the ones from Brighton, Lewes and south London were fine, no bullying at all.

40 years later I still get it. It's so fucking boring.

As a pp said earlier, I wouldn't dream of calling someone common...

But they're the ones with the problem, it's just the way I speak, it tells you nothing about my life, upbringing, background or experiences.

A refined accent I love and which has obviously been worked on for "pleb appeal" is Helen Mirren's off-duty voice.
I've just watched her recent interview with Parkinson on Youtube but don't know how to link, sorry!

She uses just the right amount of syllable reduction (why doesn't MN have phonetic symbols?) in words like "diff'r'nce" and "rec'gnish'n" or elimination of sounds in "a'tha'time" or "black'n'white" to avoid accusations of being posh.

She also peppers her speech with "you know", "Oh God, yes!" and "what's the word?" to involve her listeners, draw them in. And that body language...

I suppose she IS an award-winning actress and we can all learn something from her someone I know met her on set and said she was a real drama queen that day!

I have been mocked for being posh and it is hurtful, you can't help your accent. Now living in rural Ireland nobody mentions my accent unless it's to say something nice about the way I speak. In the past I've had awful sneers and jeers and it's so rude, because you're being mocked and mimicked. Next time this lady takes the p say to her "great impression of me, now I'm going to do one of you". Mimick her voice including exaggerated facial expressions. Then laugh, when she's sitting there mouth open "oh sorry is it only fun when directed at me?"

It is amazing how some snobs people feel they are entitled to cast instant judgement on a person by the way they sound. I suppose that nowadays it is one of the last vague indicators of the class system, something with which this country is relentlessly obsessed.