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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think northeners perceive southerners as inherently 'posh'

200 replies

LetSophieGo · 14/05/2021 23:36

I am northern, have lived between Derbyshire, Greater Manchester and Cumbria.
So I say this from a perspective of living with 'northerners' on a daily basis.
Often, when a person from southern UK moves into the north, they are perceived as posh, or of a higher social status. We know this is silly, and they are not necessarily on a higher income, but I am presuming it is something tied in with 'accent'.
Or is it class perception? My own family would not perceive a southerner as higher social status (I am not wealthy!), but many of my peers do.
What do you think? Any experiences to add?

.

OP posts:
Marguerite2000 · 15/05/2021 00:30

I moved from the midlands to the north east when I was a child. The perception of southeners was that they were 'soft' and 'poofy' rather than posh. That included anyone from south of Doncaster.

Original poster
LetSophieGo · 15/05/2021 00:41

@MargaretThursday

Definitely. I had the crime of having parents from the Midlands and lived in the North. I then went to school with a mildly southern accent, and was bullied for being "posh". I've a friend who had a similar situation and she refused to speak at school for most of 5 years due to the bullying over her accent.

Now my dc potentially could have had the opposite problem being mildly Northern accents in a southern area and have never had any comments. I've never had a worse comment down here than someone asking which part of the North I'm from.

I know what you mean, it's pretty confusing, and, well, I dunno!
OP posts:
PickAChew · 15/05/2021 00:44

As a northerner I would very much like to suggest you're being daft but, unfortunately, I have met plenty of people with this idea.

Original poster
LetSophieGo · 15/05/2021 00:44

@Marguerite2000

I moved from the midlands to the north east when I was a child. The perception of southeners was that they were 'soft' and 'poofy' rather than posh. That included anyone from south of Doncaster.
I love the north, I am at home here and will settle further north. But I do notice this. I spent time in a very insular town near Bolton for a few years, and regardless how much I relate to and like many of them, they have a very curious view of southerners. I think it is like living in a goldfish bowl. And I guess this applies to anywhere in the UK where people don't experience diversity or travel.

This is not a criticism, just an observation. We are an odd species in general!

OP posts:
PickAChew · 15/05/2021 00:46

@ConnieDobbs

I grew up in the north and remember thinking that all southerners sounded posh. I don't think I could really distinguish between an eastenders accent and the Queen, they all sounded similar to me.
They sound as similar as geordie and scouse.
vodkaredbullgirl · 15/05/2021 00:48

I'm originally from the North East, moved down to the South West, 31 yrs ago. We are no different, there are some posher places in the North too.

Divebar2021 · 15/05/2021 00:49

I’m from the East Midlands but have lived in and around London for over 20 years. I don’t have much of an accent ..... it’s pretty neutral apart from a couple of flat vowel sounds I haven’t lost. I know some people from home assess me as posh... that’s not the case at all. What I don’t like is the assumption that I’m a snob....people who believe that because my voice sounds a certain way that I’m judgemental about certain things. It’s ironic and is everything to do with the chips on their shoulder.

Countrycode · 15/05/2021 00:52

The poshest people I know have no accent at at all.

They really do. It's impossible not to have an accent. I'm not British and assuming they're British I would be able to tell you that based on their British accent!

MrsMop1964 · 15/05/2021 00:54

I'm a northerner living in Sussex and my DD who was born here sounds posh to me!

AfternoonToffee · 15/05/2021 01:02

Aye, I'm the posh one, I take it in good grace and call them weird as they eat pie with just peas.

I regularly get a side eye and a "you're not from round here." Nearly been as long up north as I haven't.

mantlepiece · 15/05/2021 01:02

@Divebar2021

I’m from the East Midlands but have lived in and around London for over 20 years. I don’t have much of an accent ..... it’s pretty neutral apart from a couple of flat vowel sounds I haven’t lost. I know some people from home assess me as posh... that’s not the case at all. What I don’t like is the assumption that I’m a snob....people who believe that because my voice sounds a certain way that I’m judgemental about certain things. It’s ironic and is everything to do with the chips on their shoulder.
Yes to the person having a chip on their shoulder.

My DD suffered at the hands of a girl from Surrey when she was at uni.

Relentlessly teased about her northern accent. Pretended she couldn’t understand her. Everyone else could!

No, I don’t think all southerners are posh, but this is one example of some of them having very bad manners.’

memberofthewedding · 15/05/2021 01:15

I an recall being on a table with two English southerners while on holiday in Bruges. Most people at the hotel were British. During the conversation one of them expressed the view that southerners were more "sophisticated."

The following day in the small hours they returned drunk and probably woke everyone in the hotel with their shouting. As they walked in for breakfast I called out to them "Morning gentlemen, was last night's exhibition an example of your southern sophistication?"

Everyone in the dining room clapped or thumped on the table. That morning the noisy pair checked out immediately after breakfast.

DramaAlpaca · 15/05/2021 01:31

@Countrycode

The poshest people I know have no accent at at all.

They really do. It's impossible not to have an accent. I'm not British and assuming they're British I would be able to tell you that based on their British accent!

Absolutely this. Everyone has an accent.

As for northerners thinking southerners are inherently posh - god no! An RP accent might indicate a certain social status in some people's eyes, but most southern accents are not at all 'posh'.

My educated, middle class northern accent (which people have difficulty placing because they can't figure out where I'm from) is far 'posher', for want of a better word, than most southern accents other than RP. If that sounds very snobby, it's not meant that way.

RaeRaeMama · 15/05/2021 03:38

This is 100% true. I was born in the south but moved to Yorkshire very young (5!!) but do not have a northern accent probably because of my mum. Northerners have always said I sound posh, always. No idea why.

HOWEVER when I spend time with southerners they think I sound Northern (I don't)

SakuraEdenSwan1 · 15/05/2021 03:56

Lifelong northerner, and in my experience, everyone down south automatically thinks your a Geordie !

FrankButchersDickieBow · 15/05/2021 04:10

No not at all. I'm from the North West and I find your OP rather insulting to be honest. You just reinforce the stereotype that we're all flat caps and whippets. Like we never 'erd not nor anyfin like that not nor nuffin like those posh nobs from dat dere down sawf.

I disagree OP. But maybe where I come from is a bit more diverse?

NeverHadANickname · 15/05/2021 04:28

I'm northern and definitely do not think all southerners are posh.

Soulstirring · 15/05/2021 04:31

I actually always thought it was southerners who considered themselves posh. I have never thought southern accents were posh, to be honest the London accent may be the least ‘posh’ I’ve heard. I’ve certainly in all my 40 years living ‘ooop north’ never heard the south described as posh by anyone.

That being said I do know one person who never actually said it but clearly thinks a southern accent would make them sound/appear more posh and she has changed her accent and sounds ridiculous. This is despite living in the north all her life with the exception of a stint at university.

I wonder became i One-der, for example.

Bonkers

LakieLady · 15/05/2021 06:08

I think if there is such a perception, it's to do with accent. I've been told I sound "posh" by northern friends.

I have a bog standard RP accent, with a slight undertone from my Croydon roots. I sound southern, but not in any way posh. But because I don't sound as though I come from Walford, they think it's posh!

It wouldn't fool anyone who was properly posh though.

picturesandpickles · 15/05/2021 06:14

@idontlikealdi

The poshest people I know have no accent at at all.
Silly - the way they speak is their accent, just you perceive it as 'standard' due to your ow bias.
Geamhradh · 15/05/2021 06:18

@Countrycode

The poshest people I know have no accent at at all.

They really do. It's impossible not to have an accent. I'm not British and assuming they're British I would be able to tell you that based on their British accent!

They don't have a regional accent. The RP accent has common features whether the person was born in Bradford or Basingstoke.

Very very few people have an RP accent these days. This generation of royals certainly doesn't. Most people who think they have one have modern Estuary English.

Interestingly, even the Queen's own version (the RF historically have spoken a kind of über RP) has changed over the years. There's a video highlighting how she pronounced certain words 50 years ago, and now, and they are totally different.

I'm northern and tbh, every time a "posh southerner" conversation happens, it's quickly offset by an EastEnders comment or a Wurzels (for those old enough to remember) one. Though the one language trait that seems to spark the concersation is the long "a" (bath, grass etc)

ItsAlwaysAFriendNeverMe · 15/05/2021 06:33

@idontlikealdi

The poshest people I know have no accent at at all.
Why, they don't speak?
ItsAlwaysAFriendNeverMe · 15/05/2021 06:37

Everyone in the dining room clapped or thumped on the table.
How sophisticated Wink

That morning the noisy pair checked out immediately after breakfast.
Do you think you drove them away with your very clever put-down? They couldn't stand the shame and had to leave a whole hotel?

Onairjunkie · 15/05/2021 06:43

I’m RP, but despite what some posters on this thread seem to think of southerners, I’m not snobbish, judgmental or rude, nor do I think I’m better than anyone else Confused. It’s just my accent and a signifier as to where I come from.

Onairjunkie · 15/05/2021 06:45

@memberofthewedding

I an recall being on a table with two English southerners while on holiday in Bruges. Most people at the hotel were British. During the conversation one of them expressed the view that southerners were more "sophisticated."

The following day in the small hours they returned drunk and probably woke everyone in the hotel with their shouting. As they walked in for breakfast I called out to them "Morning gentlemen, was last night's exhibition an example of your southern sophistication?"

Everyone in the dining room clapped or thumped on the table. That morning the noisy pair checked out immediately after breakfast.

🤣 FFS.