Pardon?

[MothersGrim]

AIBU to not bother with the word "Pardon" for my young children? It seems like a generational thing to me but my parents and in laws correct my young children when they ask "What?"

I was just curious what the expectation is nowadays, should I be teaching them 'pardon'? Is it bad manners not to

" So which is the 'correct' U thing to say after a burp/fart? Is it "pardon me" or "excuse me" or something else? "

1. you do not burp or fart in public if you could help it.
2. If you do, despite ur best efforts not to, you pretend it has not happened and say nothing.

Ah yes, of course, why didn't I think of that! Very Britishly ignoring the elephant in the room while the children all stifle giggles .

yes my granny had a digestion problem and would let out a small fart which she would ignore while me and bro rolled around laughing.....
She was quite posh and came from Ireland.

Oh well I married a surgeon so I will be OK. Does that mean I jump over a few Home Counties middlers.

God no scuttle doctors are servants and have to work for a living.

Haha yes too true thick but I am a 'Lady of Leisure'.

I would love to know more about the pronunciation of Helen, but I fear opening a can of worms.

Don't start the Helen thing again. People will start explaining schwas and it will all go downhill from there.

'Pardon' being seen as non-U isn't regional. It's not that it's 'rude', it's just a social class marker, probably one of the most observable ones.

As with any linguistic social class marker ('settee'/'toilet'/'lounge' vs sofa/loo/living room etc etc), there's no objective reason at all why 'pardon?' is any wronger/ruder than 'what?', it's just a shobboleth to mark the sheep out socially from the goats.

No, no pike- you misunderstand me. I was specifically not asking!
I can use advanced search.

I still think what is just rude. Its just so abrupt. I use napkin, living room, pudding etc. But also pardon and toilet. So confusing...
What class does pardon mark? It seems it was originally used by the lower middle classes to make them sound posh when they weren't. And everyone just saw through it.
Presumably then concern as being thought of as common is in fact common? And using a word because you've been told its not common is again common? In the same way people originally used pardon.

This thread & the "Pretty Woman Moment" thread have given me a total new perspective on the idiosyncrasies of our society.

We say pardon. Only found out on here that it's deemed common. Pants!

As with any linguistic social class marker ('settee'/'toilet'/'lounge' vs sofa/loo/living room etc etc), there's no objective reason at all why 'pardon?' is any wronger/ruder than 'what?', it's just a shobboleth to mark the sheep out socially from the goats.

I think you are right, spaghetti (although I will point out that it's "shibboleth" ).

But I also suspect that the "rules" change over time and place so that the in-group / elite can exclude those they deem inferior.

Does people REALLY give a shit about any of this in their day to day lives?!

I was born and raised in North London. I'm neither posh nor common.

"What?" I always believed to be rude until the previous thread I read on here.
"Pardon?" is what I was taught to use.
"Sorry, what?" is what I say.
I say toilet at home. Ask for the bathroom in a restaurants.

Napkin - made of fabric
Serviette - made of paper and given alongside the paper plate and cake at a children's birthday.

If you use the "wrong" word I won't know or care.

If you announced you were going for a shit I might raise an eyebrow. Other than that, don't care.

I guess my not caring makes me extra common?

Oh and it's sofa and living room in my house.

I agree, what is this obsession with an archaic class system? Unless you are aspiring to be perceived as posh middle class, why would you worry about calling a spade something else. Good manners usually have nothing to do with class.
I think any child that said "What?" to a teacher would be told that is impolite.

Trying to keep up with the thread. did anyone explain why it's called loo? it sounds like a made up word.

from 'l'eau' I believe....another evil French word then.

I though it was because there was a company called Waterloo that made the first cisterns? I could be wrong.
Maybe because it rhymes with poo.

Good manners usually have nothing to do with class.

I can definitely vouch for this. My rudest encounters have been with old money, male over 50's - one a GP, the other a very well respected oncologist. I can only assume the latter adopts an entirely different persona when he's doctoring as if you'd encountered him anywhere else you wouldn't want him near you! Frightful pig of a man. Sorry, tangent...