To feel angry when judged purely on my accent?

[manchita]

I just find it really depressing the way a lot of people make a habit of judging others on accent/class/appearance/children's names but what gets to me the most is the assumption you are thick and unworthy if you have any kind of regional accent

And actually. Started feeling rather light-hearted about this (am old enough for being picked on at school not to be the worst thing) but it was miserable at the time.

people with posh accents having a hard time?

At school for one. It's surprising what kids will call posh. It's a big insult.

I know that I sometimes think people are judging me on my accent. But it's maybe that I feel a bit inadequate next to someone who talks 'posh'. But that's my problem really isn't it?

At least with any British accent the second question after "Where are you from?" is not, "How long are you here for?", thinly-veiled code for "When are you going back?" And I consider my US accent pretty mild after 13 years here.

Oh, and expat, I'm delighted that my dd is going to have a Scottish accent when she starts talking.

And and and and..

People make assumptions about me, based upon my accent, that rankle. It sucks, either way.

I would love a Scots accent.

yes, years and years later, every time we tell neighbours we're moving we get, 'are you going back home?'

or, if they hear DD1 with me talking, act surprised. 'oh, she talks like a Scottish person.'

maybe because she is! i'm married to one of them .

Well, that does sound like a bad experience and of course it must be awful being bullied but I am thinking more of people acting like this in the grown up adult world.
All differences at school are picked up on and name calling is for a variety of reasons.

I am talking about the judgement of many grown up people who should know better but need a gruop of people to look down on in order to feel succesful or superior.

I am sorry you feel inadequate because of your accent saggy. Isn't it a shame you would feel like that just because you consider the person you are talking to is posh. And then to blame yourself for your feelings. Why do you consider them to be superior to you?

You may not see ' victimsation of the well spoken as a particularly serious issue' but surely the point should be that nobody should be judged on their accent.

As someone who was regularly beaten up at school for being well spoken/posh I can assure you it is a very serious issue.

Please extend the very same courtesy to others, in this regard at least, that you expect.

My little boy gets constant references to the fact that he's 'old-fashioned.'

It's because he annunciates, and he comes out with dear, old lady phrases.

This, coupled with a full on, I am going to have the piss taken out of me for my surname scenario, has prompted me to teach him how to box

manchita, the entire world is thriving on dialect. It's considered cool. I am uncool and you win!!

And all those posh women? I doubt there's very much underneath.

I have an RP accent ( not posh, just RP)and live in the north east. It pisses me off slightly that some people make judgements about me on the basis of it, in a way that no one would think acceptable if it was directed at, say, a Geordie accent.

Also, I feel a bit pissed off with the surprisingly many people who denigrate their own north eastern accents. IMO people often feel defensive about their regional accent,and even judge it more harshly than an RP speaker would. Then they project that harsh judgement onto the RP speakers who in fact admire their accent.

It's certainly not a regular occurance Manchita - I just feel like that occasionally. Like Desi says, I probably read too much into it.

On the whole I'm very proud of my dialect.

Well put dingdongmerrALYonhigh.

What exactly do I win?
I am not particularly interested in whether I am cool or not and haven't been since I was a teenager.
If it is considered cool to have a working class accent it is only for a very brief period in anyone's life, which is why the only examples we have of victimisation are during schooldays.
Personally, I think it all comes down to capitalism-I really do feel like working class peple have to work harder to be afforded the respect automatically dished out to the middle classes.

Oh, fuck me, manchita. You're talking to a cleaner here.

Just drop the socialist bollocks and I'm sure you'll be a happier person.

You started an AIBU thread. I didn't ask you to. But since you asked, I think you are being unreasonable. If you don't like the way people treat you because of your accent, then change it.

But I don't believe that's the case. Address the real issue, and not the imagined one.

You have a chip on your shoulder. And like I said, just eat the fecker.

Plaese tell me what the real issue is Des.
I should change my accent if other people don't like it?
Thanks for the advice, but I don't really think I'll be taking you up on that one.

I get the piss taken out of my accent all the time.

Idiotic people who are introduced to me will say things like; 'eh eh calm down calm down' (like its funny and they are the first person to ever say that )

And the 'check the wheels are still on your car' and 'quick! hide your wallet/jewellery/TV/stereo' joke, is boring and ignorant.

Its so tiresome and unintelligent, im beyond being offended by it, and its a good way of spotting the blockheads who i then wont waste my time striking up a conversation with

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Er, I'm not from Liverpool. Have only ever been there once. I don't think I have an accent at all but other people think I do (often get asked if I'm australian, for some reason - I'm not).

The mt group was just an example. Of course I stopped going there. Obviously.
The point I an trying to make is that snap judgements due to class or accent happen all the time. Do you really think I am just complaining about a silly mt group.

Bloody nora, I used to speak with a southern accent (coming from the south, like) and when I moved to the midlands (having grown up in a teensy little two-up-two-down with bread and dripping for tea), I was stunned to find myself being bullied for having a 'posh' accent.

People judge and make snap evaluations all the time, and accent is one of the criteria they use. It's silly and often wildly inaccurate, and YANBU for finding it so, but really, there it is. Not going to change any time soon.

I have a vaguely northern accent, worn down by years in the home counties.

Have been reading Nancy Mitford non stop for the last week, though and am THINKING in a cut glass l930s upper class accent.

Am enjoying it frightfully, dahling, but would never let it out of ones gorb.

we judge people on all kids of stuff its what we do.

i love down south i have a very borad oldham accent - think coronation street -

at work i am often not taken seriously becuase of my accent - however within my work - i use it to my advantage - no one ever forgets the bird from upnorth somewhere.

i think if someone doesn't want to get to know me becuase of my accent then fuck 'em - they arn't worth knowing.

by the way - i do exactly the same thing. someone with a cockney accent - or common southern ( ykwim - think lilly allen) well i judge them as they probably judge me - its not right its not clever - but we do have these stereotyped bboxes that we have to overcome - the best people recognise that this is a fact ( rather than saying everyone is equal eat a flower love and peace i'm a hippy) and try to make a concious effort not to judge people on these things alone.