Inspired by another thread. Is accent mocking ever OK ?

[toddymummy]

This one has always bothered me. Being from mixed European heritage, but not having an accent myself- I have found myself the subject of accent/ gesture mocking many times.

It doesn't happen as much anymore as it used to,say 10-15 years ago, but it does occasionally happen.

Is it ever OK ? People mock all kinds of accents- Irish, Scottish, Welsh, French, Italian, German.

It really bugs me, especially if it's done repeatedly and especially if it's done at work.

AIBU ?

@WheelieBinPrincess

It IS an amusing accent, the inflections and the drawn out vowels. Great local dialect too.

It’s ok not to find all the same things funny though, I’m sure I’m in no way like your witless uncle, I’m sorry he makes fun of you, @HeadNorth

I don't see what is so funny about drawn out vowels. No one enjoys having the way they speak made fun of, even if they don't say so to your face. I don't say anything to my dimwitted uncle, I don't respect him enough to bother - why waste my energy on a fool?

So maybe reflect on about what people really think of you when you perform your 'party piece'.

Mocking doesn't bother me, it's the fact I never hear my accent on TV radio film etc. The BBC excells in posh Welsh, Scouse, Scottish and generic northern....oh the northern voices on radio! But never Bristol/west country. Even radio Bristol until a couple of years ago only had one presenter with a local accent

Scottish here (and not even a particularly broad accent, just 'generic middle-class Scottish').

In common with a lot of my Irish and Welsh friends, I would recommend that you do not do The Voice, particularly if meeting a new Scottish/Irish/Welsh person for the first time.

Many of us really don't like it.

Never. Apart from parent and child as an affectionate running joke maybe eg if the parent grew up in the North and the child in the South.

Mocking or highlighting a difference? Anyone (mostly southerners) picking up on my northern accent is just picking up on something I'm rather proud of and in turn makes me pity them for not having what I have!

I thought it was disgraceful when Matt Lucas mocked a German accent on Bake Off. Are we living in the 70s when this kind of behaviour (eg Fawlty Towers) was deemed acceptable?

I would hate my parents’ Asian accents to be mocked and any other accent should be treated with the same respect.

@hangrylady I like the sound of this game - especially after a few wines!

@Giggorata You've just reminded me that I used to do the 'yesh' thing with my ex. It definitely didn't offend him - was just a little in-joke that started when he asked me questions about his English.

PS. I think a lot us with 'friskier' accents enjoy hearing a neutral/posh 'fuck'. It sounds so much less harsh than my guttural version.

I imitate all the time when the kids ask me what’s for dinner. Curry in a Indian accent, bolognese in an Italian accent, Pho, Kabab, bangers and mash, tacos etc. They tell me it’s racist but I don’t agree. There’s a difference between imitation and mocking.

It shows very clearly that the person doing the mocking has very little experience of the world and few interpersonal skills.

I was watching a really old episode of Four In A Bed at the weekend (wasn't feeling well) and one of the guys kept imitating his friends polish accent. His friend just stood there smiling but it was really annoying. I was watching to see if he did it in the group and someone tell him off. They think they are being funny but they just look foolish.

I am not offended but we do it quite a bit in our family and extended family so my kids, my teenager mocks my accent he tells me I sound like the Grandma from Southpark as I regularly say, 'what what?' Pronounced waart about conversations around the house that are nothing to do with me. Mine is a combination of influences though as went to a private school, then a London Comprehensive like Grange Hill and then Shropshire in late teens so it is a real hybrid and I'm quite loud. I joke about my DCs Brighton accent and we have relatives in North London one is incredibly posh and tbh we have a bit of a laugh as my DH is more North London accent.

My dad has a very soft, but strong Scottish accent, it's actually quite lovely to listen to but it used to drive me mad when people used to reply to him with awful "See u Jimmy" & "och aye the noo" accents as it was very definitely piss taking.

On the other hand, I have a friend who grew up in Trinidad (he's white) and he's often accused of taking the piss when he isn't.

Try being Irish.
The non stop mocking is irritating at best

My everyday accent is pretty standard RP. However, I grew up in Sunderland and can switch to it easily, which surprises people.

@toddymummy EVERYONE has an accent. You are incorrect thinking that you don't.

I love when people claim not to have an accent. I suppose they mean they have a generic SE England accent?

Try going to New York/Kerry/Sydney and telling them you don't have an accent.

@Userg1234

Mocking doesn't bother me, it's the fact I never hear my accent on TV radio film etc. The BBC excells in posh Welsh, Scouse, Scottish and generic northern....oh the northern voices on radio! But never Bristol/west country. Even radio Bristol until a couple of years ago only had one presenter with a local accent

Yep, totally agree. I was born and live in the SW and you rarely hear a West Country accent (of which there are many further distinct variations). If you do, the character is generally portrayed as being a bit stupid, it irritates me greatly.

@Haveyoubrushedyourteethtoday

I imitate all the time when the kids ask me what’s for dinner. Curry in a Indian accent, bolognese in an Italian accent, Pho, Kabab, bangers and mash, tacos etc. They tell me it’s racist but I don’t agree. There’s a difference between imitation and mocking.

Sorry but especially in that context, its racist. Your dcs are rigth there. And it's not because there is no one from those countries to hear you that it's not racist either.

@DinaofCloud9

Try being scouse and endless people tell you to calm down calm down. It gets tedious pretty quickly.

Solidarity! I don't live in Liverpool at the moment so get this a lot. I just take the piss back, the city I live in is known to have a hideous accent. If people can give it out, they can soddin' well take it too!

I think it depends what accent is being mocked, and who is doing the mocking.

A white person doing a mock Asian accent, like Apu in the Simpsons, is not acceptable these days. The same with a white person doing a 19th century American slave accent, that's not allowed.

It's fine for people to mock certain "white" accents, for example an American can do a stereotypical posh English accent, a southerner can mock northern accents and so on.

[quote OldTinHat]@toddymummy EVERYONE has an accent. You are incorrect thinking that you don't. [/quote]
Absolutely. And another misconception that grates on me is that Southern accents are automatically 'posh' and Northern ones 'working class'.

Fwiw I have a foreign accent but I has changed enough that people can rarely place where it's coming from.
I have no issue with people wondering as such. Or making a comment when it's coming from 'Oh I'm interested/curious about you' type of place.

I have an issue with mocking, making fun etc... in most situations. Very rarely it is coming from a 'lets alugh together' place. Even when the xenophobia isn't fully acknowledged by the person, it is there, subconscioulsy.

I thik this is also true for local accents. My PIL both have a strong yorkshire accent. If anyoe was starting to 'talk like them' or make comment/laugh, it would be coming from a 'I am better than you' place. Usually from people 'down south' too....

Tik tok videos have quite a lot of mocking accents. Go ahead and cancel them please. It is one place that needs cancelling.

It's like all of these things those isn't it? You need to know your audience. I am a northerner, my sons and dh are southerners and we take the Micky out of certain words or phrases. My flat As are a constant source of amusement to them apparently I live near Bath but they live near Barth.

We wouldn't do it to people we don't know or in a professional environment but it's not something that causes any of us distress or annoyance generally.

It's fine for people to mock certain "white" accents, for example an American can do a stereotypical posh English accent, a southerner can mock northern accents and so on.

You see I don't think that is fine either...
For the simple reason that it's still about feeling superior to the other person because of their heritage. It's not because they are the same race that it's OK.