To think that my Scottish accent wasn't posh enough?

[TheGoal]

I was at an event today with my kids. I was invited but I didn't know the vast majority of the other parents/children there.

Everyone at the event spoke with what can only be described as a posh English accent. I don't mean that to sound in any way offensive. I found the group to not be very friendly to me at all. I tried to make conversation with so many people, asking them about their children etc but as soon as I stopped asking questions, the conversation went dead. I got the impression they had no interest in chatting to me.

My background is that I'm from a fairly well off family, had a very comfortable upbringing, but I don't have a posh accent for whatever reason. I just talk, well, Scottish. I don't use slang words, my parents didn't so I suppose you just mirror your parents with that sort of thing. I suppose what I'm getting at is that I don't necessarily sound as though I'm from a well off family.

I found the whole group to be pretentious and my gut is telling me that I just didn't sound posh enough for them to want to mix with me?

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm feeling quite low tonight after what can only be described as a very unpleasant day being made to feel an outsider. It makes me really sad that people would think this way and although I don't have any hard evidence that my accent was the reason, I have a very strong gut feeling. It's sad to think people can be so shallow.

I have been in England for over a year now and every single day my scottish accent is mentioned. There are 2 people at work who just refuse to speak to me cause they cant 'understand me'. I have the least scottish accent ever but its the fact i have an accent in the first place is judged. So i understand :/ unfornately i have no advice

Nah TwitterQueen pretty sure you were not being supportive with your chip on shoulder comments. Are you feeling guilty as you recognise having participated in a similar situation?

Flirtygirl - if the english are 'racist' towards the Scottish - believe you me it happens the other way round too. It has happened to me. But I don't think all Scottish people are racist as neither are all English people.

AaahhhBump
READ THE THREAD!!!!!! let me repeat that, since the message hasn't got through. READ THE THREAD. From the beginning.

As a southerner who spent 4 years in the NE I can safely say that ripping the piss out of someone for their accent is not something I've done, but it has been done to me, often and will bells on.

I don't deny it happens - the BBC's Steph McGovern has (I believe) been vocal about being held back in her career by her Middlebrough accent.

OP, with the greatest respect, I do think you're being super-sensitive about your accent here...

I suspect it's that rather enormous chip on your shoulder, coupled with an evident sense of injury and entitlement.

You sound real supportive.

Having read the thread you were one of two poster raising a Glasgow salad being the OP's issue.

OP, I've had this before. Not because of my accent but again because of a perception of class (where we live). In my instance as soon as they did find out we were 'better placed' than they thought they were all desperate to be friends with us. You don't need friends like those. It does feel bad at the time, but it does really make me appreciate the friends I do have.

In my team at work we have a Scot(me), one from NI, one from Sunderland and 2 from yorkshire - on our team video calls you can see the two Yorkshire men physically straining to understand when me, the NIer and the Mackem are having a conversation

Try putting my first comment into perspective Trinal by including the rest of my post. You know, the bit where I said:

*I can assure you that none of us southern softies could distinguish between a 'posh or not' Scottish or Irish / N Irish or Welsh accent.
Also:
[op's statement] I've lived in England for the past 8 years and never experienced this treatment before
[me] It can't be your accent then, can it? Maybe just a bunch of unfriendly women who don't deserve this amount of worrying and fretting!

I think that's pretty supportive myself ..

And I have absolutely no idea at all what you mean by a Glasgow salad.

Some people sadly do 'other' those who don't have the same accent - I am English living in Scotland and often feel the same when I speak.

Glasgow salad is chips! Saw it on a restaurant menu in the Lake District - I had to ask as a Glaswegian - I laughed - waitress was mortified having to tell me! (Guess a ref to the unhealthy diet of some Glasweigians historically)

Oops - spelling slip

I can believe it OP. I’m Glaswegian and while I don’t have a super strong accent it is definitely identifiable. When I was doing my PhD, in a field in which most people are still usually privately educated, well connected and RP-accented, I went to several conferences where I honestly felt that my accent marked me out as someone not worth talking to or listening to.

I used to tell myself I was imagining that until one day a lovely senior lecturer from Newcastle approached me and said what a massive relief it was to hear another regional accent. Speaking to her confirmed that I wasn’t imagining it. That’s a specific set of people, though - I’ve absolutely not felt like that in other situations where it’s been mostly posh or southern English folk.

MrsJayy Sat 09-Mar-19 21:40:25
Really posh Scots talk in RP without a hint of a Scottish accent.

Really you sure about that ?

Yes this is true - Fettes / Gordonstoun crowd all speak that way

But on the core note, hugs - I hope it wasn't the case and you were just paranoid.

I'm glad here is a friendly place in most parts and all are welcomed, accent or no accent :P

Regarding posh Scots sounding English I met a girl at University in England who told me she lived in Edinburgh, which is less than an hour by train from where I had been born and lived all my life. After about 3 weeks of us being friends I asked her when she had moved to Scotland from England. Turned out she had lived in Edinburgh all her life, but had attended one of the very posh schools there! My family were bery middle class and certainly didn’t speak broad Scots- my Dad was a radio newsreader! but she was about 50 times posher. Her family house in the New Town had a table that could seat 20 for dinner and they only brought the TV out of the cupboard for special documentaries!