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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

If you are really posh...

345 replies

quickque · 04/10/2020 10:55

How do you view people that aren't?

A genuine question. I can't help but feel as if some of my husbands friends / colleagues think that he's married 'down'....

Maybe a generalisation but I mostly get this impression from his female friends.

OP posts:
Dugee · 04/10/2020 14:05

@HollywoodHandshake

I lived in Sydney for a couple of years and class snobbery is thriving there. It's all about what school you went to and where you live. Where you live is important, property prices in Sydney are astronomical, so if you live in a good area, it generally means your parents could afford to help you to buy.

ParrotheadRedux · 04/10/2020 14:05

Not this again. The tired old MN trope that “truly posh” people are all humble, kind and most importantly they ALWAYS drive beaten-up 15-year-old cars. “New money” on the other hand must be flashy snobs who have no social graces and anyway they buy everything on credit to look richer than they are. 🙄

I think psychologically people have a real need to believe in fairness. British people in particular have a very strong ingrained sense of class lodged in their subconscious and this can be hard to shake, even in younger people who believe they are past it. We are trained to respect the upper class so we characterize them as relatable and unassuming. On the other hand there’s no obligation to respect “new money” folks and it’s more comfortable to find ways to look down on them then admit the world is arbitrary and we are jealous of all the cool stuff they have.

oakleaffy · 04/10/2020 14:05

@Alexandernevermind

The sport I used to participate in would involve anyone from any social standing, from working class to royalty with some proper old fashion gypsies in the mix, and we all rubbed along very well together - particularly when whisky is passed around for the coffees. I think its more about what you have in common with people you are with than the bank account or accent.
Sounds like Coursing?
NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace · 04/10/2020 14:06

Can't really help you there – I'm from a small pit town in Yorkshire and I'm rough as ..... Grin

oakleaffy · 04/10/2020 14:11

I found a book by Jilly Cooper in a Charity shop called ''Class'' Thai os obviously dated, but it even had generalisations of what dog was U or non U
Whippets supposedly U with Greyhounds non U and Alsatians and Rottweilers being off the scale non U.

It was quite funny and surely written as a joke...Or was it?

Staffies have a very downmarket image, but Lurchers , while non U in Eire {they are meant to be hard to home in their native land} are U in UK.

It is all barking mad.

oakleaffy · 04/10/2020 14:12

Edit : Thai os?? ...''That is''. Bloody computers.

SJaneS48 · 04/10/2020 14:15

@IncandescentSilver
“ How can a village be posh though? Posh people don't live in villages. They either live in the countryside, or in a town or city. Or both.”

Being posh isn’t the same as being wealthy at all. ‘Posh’ people live all over the place.

Xenia · 04/10/2020 14:27

I don't look down on new money people who like to flash the cash. I have very rich indian neighbours, loads of them, one who had 1000 guests at his daughter's wedding kind of thing and so many the police have had to put leaflets through doors saying don't keep £100k of gold and jewellery at home. People can spend their money any way they like. If they have always wanted a very expensive car they can. I wouldn't look down on them for that any more than I hope they wouldn't look down on me for spending money on school fees! (and anyone all the neigbours use private schools)

DeliciouslyFemale · 04/10/2020 14:30

Excuse me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you post about this issue before, right down to the women not working?

derxa · 04/10/2020 14:31

@IncandescentSilver

Theres so many degrees of "poshness", its all relative. A lot of people who aren't remotely posh may try to look down on others for not fitting into their "set".

My family are relatively posh, though in a rural, landed gentry way, as in a lot of them didn't have to work for a living and lived in Georgian country houses. I grew up in one for part of the time so my childhood was spent teaching my pony to lead down an ancient set of polished stone steps around the back of the walled garden to his field and evading everyone who told me (rightly) that it was dangerous because they were so slippy (but it was much quicker). I was always slightly orange tinged in winter, before fake tan came along, because our water came out of the taps that colour when rainfall was high.

Anyway...I treat everyone the same and am disappointed when they are not. I don't consider myself posh and deliberately don't cultivate a posh accent, although when drunk or annoyed it can become very posh. My mother was the same and used to look down upon people who were either too "brash" (new money/can't stop talking about it) or just ill mannered. She had an inbuilt hatred of housing estates (even expensive new ones), monobloc driveways and men who drink regularly in pubs. She also hated Edinburgh's New Town for some reason, and referred to the rears of the tenements as "looking like falling-down slums".

I know a lot of "posh" people. Some of the older aristocratic Scottish men at the top of the landed money pile are seriously unpleasant with little good to be said for them, especially those around East Lothian/the outskirts of Edinburgh. The ones from Perthshire always seem to be nice. A lot of Eton and Harrow educated men are very decent. The worst I find are these late forties plus women who have never worked but have somehow married into money and then wasted years building up their self image to something far more important than it actually is.

But my family are also very clever and well educated, and thats a whole other level of posh. I moved to the Borders for a while and I remember being out with a local hunt and being asked by one of the snooty wannabee posh girls there, as I was hinting that one of my horses was for sale, whether I was a horse dealer. "Good heavens, no" I said. "I'm a lawyer. What is it you do?"

As for men, I'm single and I can sniff out a whiff of what I can only describe as "roughness" all too easily. Its something to do with the ability to smirk, or rough skin, or a pointy nose, or something! Or just the general attitude. I was speaking to a man online dating the other day and it was all going well - his skin wasn't terribly rough and his feature were relatively symmetrically arranged - until we discussed hobbies. He told me his included "like going to the pub for a couple of pints, don't usually drink much in the house" and that was enough to put me off. I previously dated a man who was unemployed for a couple of years, so its not anything to do with money. Its much more intrinsic.

But in answer to your question OP, I'd say the real deciding feature is whether you have the confidence to stand up to anyone who is treating you wrongly and put them in their place politely yet icily. Or whether you have the confidence to be slightly eccentric and comfortable enough in your own skin to go your own way - this post is an example of that.

Brilliant Grin
Thecobwebsarewinning · 04/10/2020 14:32

How odd to say posh people don’t live in villages. The posh family I alluded to above certainly do. Let’s say their village is called Trumpton - they live in Trumpton House overlooking the cricket green and allow Trumpton Parish Church to use their paddocks for the annual village fete.

They also (and this is less altruistic) send their cleaners to take their place on the church cleaning rota and when they hire a marquee for a big family event like a milestone birthday they hold two parties, one for close family and important contacts and another one the following evening for lesser mortals and villagers! The wine served at each evening will be of different quality too. I’ve been to both levels (we got upgraded when my husbands business became important to the husband) but I’m too much of a pleb to be able to distinguish between the different wines. They all tasted great to me.

IncandescentSilver · 04/10/2020 14:38

But Trumpton House, located in the village with its fields behind it, is rather different from an entire village being considered "posh", with its ranks of terraced houses and new build housing estates tacked on the edges.

Had this same discussion with my ex, whose father lived in a large house in a village but without any land. Turned out he actually had a second house with land in Surrey which he let out, but didn't like to mention.

Surrey is apparently non-U.

Don't take my posts too seriously. They are all very tongue-in-cheek.

jessstan1 · 04/10/2020 14:39

[quote quickque]@Lockheart public school - Eton, Rugby etc

And don't have to work for a living [/quote]
Well people who don't have to work for a living are quite privileged but they don't go around expecting everyone else to be the same; in fact a lot would have liked to have a worthwhile job but lack the confidence. None of that has anything to do with being 'posh'.

Some people think others are posh if they speak properly or if they have a nice house and good job. It's all relative. You are yourself and no doubt have many admirable qualities but if you go around feeling inferior, people will pick up on that. Relax.

SuitedandBooted · 04/10/2020 14:48

In my experience, really posh people don't give a shit- they don't have anything to prove.

Yep ^^

Insecure New Money types on the other hand.........!

Xenia · 04/10/2020 14:48

You can be posh and live in a very cheap home as money is not the deciding criteria. It doesn't matter how you are . Just relax and have a good life.

BoudicasBoudoir · 04/10/2020 14:51

@3WildOnes

My husbands family are fairly posh. As in land owners and public schools. They definitely do look down on those who are not. But you wouldn’t know unless you were in their inner circle. My family are firmly middle class and don’t look down on others.
Yes, I think this is true. Many ‘posh people’ in fact DO look down on others. It’s just very poor form to be seen to do so, so it’s covert.

My mother’s family were posh. Landed gentry, public schools, my mum was a deb. They all had wonderful manners in public, and lots of people thought they were lovely and charming... but the private sneering was something to behold.

I don’t have anything to do with any of them, anymore.

jessstan1 · 04/10/2020 14:52

ChrisPrattsFace

I spend about two thirds of my year with what I assume you would class as ‘posh’
Those with money they’ve earned tend to be kinder and more approachable (no example would be that they always make time for me and my son) whereas those who inherited money are arseholes. (frequently ask me and my son to leave the area because I ruin their day etc)
........
Well I can honestly say I have never come across that! What on earth do you do that is so objectionable?

derxa · 04/10/2020 14:52

Mind you, even the Spencers are descended from 15th century sheep traders. How very dare you! I'm a 21st C sheep trader Grin

Angrymum22 · 04/10/2020 14:53

Posh is very different from being a snob. I have plenty of posh friends who are definitely not snobs they have no idea that they are considered posh. The biggest snobs are those who think they are posh.

jessstan1 · 04/10/2020 14:54

@Xenia

Not that many "really posh" people don't have to work for a living so I don't think work is probably relevant to very posh unless you are the royal family. Even some of the Queen's grandchildren have to work for a living.

I am reasonably middle class, private school etc and would never "lok down" on anyone. The Christian values I and indeed the Queen was brought up with are that everyone is equal.

Quite right too.
Angrymum22 · 04/10/2020 14:56

Private sneering is something that all walks of life do. Its public sneering that is offensive.

quickque · 04/10/2020 15:01

Thanks all!

I guess my brother is what would be classes as 'new money' but I have never heard him judge or look down on anyone. He has nothing to prove - he's worked hard and done well for himself, so has nothing to prove. Interesting to know how others might view him though.

I personally don't agree that really properly posh people don't judge anyone and are lovely - I suspect the ones most have met are just better trained in appearing charming and polite but their internal thoughts might tell a different story.

I think the posters that have said some will be judging and some won't - everyone is different! Thanks again for so many replies

OP posts:
Swimminginroses · 04/10/2020 15:05

I personally don't agree that really properly posh people don't judge anyone and are lovely - I suspect the ones most have met are just better trained in appearing charming and polite but their internal thoughts might tell a different story
I think that’s quite an awful opinion to have tbh.
Very judgemental.

YouokHun · 04/10/2020 15:12

@Eyewhisker

There is a weird English thing that the truly posh people are the world’s nicest people and never look down on others, whereas it’s the ones who made their own money you have to look out for.

I have never found this to be true. At university, I was surrounded by the posh set, and they never mixed outside their set. A few good-looking mc girls were allowed in, but it was known that they were not quite born to it. Very much a ‘doors-to-manual’ culture.

This fawning over the posh is really unedifying.

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable I agree, the truly posh/old money are less insecure, better at hiding their social prejudice, but they are not quite as accepting of others as they might appear (generally speaking). Yes, they are lovely to the gamekeeper or housekeeper (who instinctively know their place however close they may be), and to those they meet in the street that they know vaguely but most people are held at a polite distance. For the most part friends are from a tight social circle with antennae alert to certain social cues not as obvious as the old school tie. They may adopt an pet oligarch if times are hard but Hyacinth Bucket will never be welcome Wink
OVienna · 04/10/2020 15:20

@Vagaries
What seems to confuse people on Mumsnet is that the smart set are considerably more subtle about exclusion and endogamy. It's not all raised eyebrows about where you do or don't ski, or conversations about the difficulty in getting in the right restoration chaps to do a good job on the frescoes, or the difficulty in keeping the wolf from the portico -- it's very possible to be treated with perfect kindness and consideration and still simply be considerately dismissed at a fundamental level.

This. I have contact with the titled British posh through work. I think this is a reasonable assessment. I did not grow up in the UK so I have never been sure if what I am perceiving is a reaction to THAT or a class thing.

I have a very close friend who hails from European aristos - titled mother and various others in his family, clear up to Dukes. Absolutely frothing that someone of his standing had to live in a downmarket part of London, considered it personally humiliating. I adore him but his discomfort was hysterical. Did we in the UK not know who they were DEALING WITH??? He would however describe himself to me as 'upper middle class.'

His former wife was not from the UK and posh in her own right. We are of the same culture. I found her fascinating. There was just this assumption that...money would always be there. It wasn't that she was profligate, the way some people can be when they know money is finite but they keep spending. It was very hard to describe (and extremely foreign to me.) My friend had to work for a living, very much so, and found it difficult to keep up with these expectations.

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