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Original poster

Are accents snobbish

327 replies

678somean · 08/09/2023 09:19

I know this is going to get me a lot of backlash. But I love a good debate so thought I'd pose the question....
I hate regional accents. I know they can't be helped but they sound so thick.
There was an article in the Guardian recently where they mentioned that people with regional accents go to speech therapy before moving to London in order to apply for jobs!
I think it's a smart move. But of course not a popular opinion.
I've worked with lots of people in high profile roles and honestly, whether people like it or not, the ones with RP are definitely taken more seriously and respected.
I've noticed all over England that the ones who are highly educated with good jobs rarely have their local accent and most have admitted that it's undesirable to have a regional accent and they are middle/upper class so don't speak with one.
Do others feel the same when applying for high status roles?

OP posts:
Chickenkeev · 08/09/2023 12:39

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 08/09/2023 12:31

Do you not hear them speak?
They have accents.
A small minority have an RP accent.
Same as the rest of the population.

RP is a relatively new (yet already dying out) concept anyway and thankfully, both in society in general, and linguistic circles in particular, is already seen for the anachronism it is.

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This is rather fascinating! It's really making me think. I assumed all the people with the RP were London. In my head, English accents were Cornwall, London, Birmingham and Manchester. And Liverpool. So 'London' would have covered everywhere else really! But am not English so just going from the telly.

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 08/09/2023 12:40

BIossomtoes · 08/09/2023 12:36

Thanks @TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon good to know I’m an anachronism😉

<gives another old codger a shoulder bump>
Better to be an anachronism (linguistically) than all the other things we get called on here 😏

SamW98 · 08/09/2023 12:41

BarbaraofSeville · 08/09/2023 12:12

But I do always wonder if Americans would think people from Yorkshire, Liverpool and Newcastle sound 'posh' like English people are generally portrayed as in US films/TV.

We were always mistaken for Australians when we were in the US - we are London born and bred.

Original poster
678somean · 08/09/2023 12:44

Sugarcoatt · 08/09/2023 11:32

I live in a regional area. It’s a fact that people from poor backgrounds or in manual occupations tend to have strong accents, while those who are in professions have a much less pronounced accent. They still have one but not as strong, and they don’t use regional slang words either. In general you will find that as a person gets posher, their accent becomes weaker. I’m not judging at all, that’s just a fact.

I was actually part of a university research study about accents a while ago. They interviewed my Dad, myself and my son. My Dad was a working class manual labourer, while I was raised by working class parents but brought up to be a bit more middle class and had the opportunity to go to university. My son is definitely middle class, raised by educated parents with loads of cultural opportunities like music, sports, theatre, etc. My Dad calls my son a “scenty gob” because he thinks he has a posh accent. You can definitely tell the difference between us even just in a couple of generations. We only live a few miles apart - the only real difference is money and education.

Your experience is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about.
It's not very nice that your dad says those things to your son. I had similar things said to me when I was a child about being 'posh' by other family members and I hated it so tried to dumb it down. It's not a nice feeling.

OP posts:
Shivermetimbers0112 · 08/09/2023 12:48

Full on Belfast accent despite living in the SE for 35 years. Had a six-figure salary until I retired last year with a more than adequate pension. Did me no harm then….
Couldn’t care less what accent people have, what they do and how they do it so much more important.

Regholdsworthswaterbed · 08/09/2023 12:48

I've worked in London, in an investment bank and there were many people in senior positions who had regional accents. No an accent does not make you sound thick as long as you are eloquent. Funnilly enough the poshest person I worked with was genuinely thick as shit but she would insert big words into conversation that were totally out of context.

Flamingogirl08 · 08/09/2023 12:49

678somean · 08/09/2023 12:44

Your experience is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about.
It's not very nice that your dad says those things to your son. I had similar things said to me when I was a child about being 'posh' by other family members and I hated it so tried to dumb it down. It's not a nice feeling.

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And yet knowing that horrible feeling you have come on here to tell people that their accents make them sound thick.

cardibach · 08/09/2023 12:50

678somean · 08/09/2023 09:50

I didn't say all. I said most. Which is true.

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By ‘top schools’ you mean top independents though, don’t you? Their heads sound like that because it’s really hard to get on in that world if you didn’t also go to independent school.
Many great state schools have heads with ‘regional’ (ie not RP) accents.

Marynotsocontrary · 08/09/2023 12:55

None of my family have an accent either.
???
I've heard this sort of thing before and here it is again.
"We speak RP so don't have an accent."

RP is an accent.

SamW98 · 08/09/2023 12:59

Regholdsworthswaterbed · 08/09/2023 12:48

I've worked in London, in an investment bank and there were many people in senior positions who had regional accents. No an accent does not make you sound thick as long as you are eloquent. Funnilly enough the poshest person I worked with was genuinely thick as shit but she would insert big words into conversation that were totally out of context.

Absolutely my experience. Over 30 years on investment banking and fund management and had some brilliant senior management who had strong regional accents.
The City is and has been for decades full of cockney wide boys who have a strong work ethic and a desire to achieve great things.

KarmenPQZ · 08/09/2023 13:03

Your experience is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about.
It's not very nice that your dad says those things to your son. I had similar things said to me when I was a child about being 'posh' by other family members and I hated it so tried to dumb it down. It's not a nice feeling.

Love how you’re acknowledging how damaging it can be to be insulted based on your accent. All the while insulting a lot of people based on their accent. But hey it’s only social media.

Thepeopleversuswork · 08/09/2023 13:10

@KarmenPQZ

Love how you’re acknowledging how damaging it can be to be insulted based on your accent. All the while insulting a lot of people based on their accent. But hey it’s only social media.

This post that initiated this thread is grotesque. Snobbish, stupid and self-pitying. And incredibly poorly written.

Everanewbie · 08/09/2023 13:11

I'm not offended OP, it takes a lot to make me cry. I just feel its a shame people can be so narrow minded. I have worked with some excellent people from all over the country and the three most brilliant I came across were from the welsh valleys, Newcastle and Glasgow. All 3 were anything but thick, and were judged by their actual words and contributions, not their accent.

Original poster
678somean · 08/09/2023 13:14

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 08/09/2023 09:45

Genuinely lol that you know who all the ‘top school’ heads are and what they sound like 😂

Never did I say I know all. I said most and I know a lot from all over the country.

OP posts:
Original poster
678somean · 08/09/2023 13:17

LaaDeeDa321 · 08/09/2023 09:56

This attitude is precisely why the UK has so many mediocre white men fucking up our businesses and government.

It's not just white men 🙄. I am mixed race and my head teacher was Indian.

OP posts:
DoItAgainPlz · 08/09/2023 13:22

You can sound professional - or unprofessional - with any accent.

But the language you use determines how you're received.

I think Angela Rayner is deeply uninspiring - but due to the way she mangles the English language, doesn't adapt the way she communicates on the situation or her audience, and the tone of her delivery.

Not because she has a Manchester-adjacent accent.

LizardLizard · 08/09/2023 13:31

I work in a relatively senior role in one of the traditional professions, and regional accents are irrelevant. What is relevant is being articulate, and being able to communicate clearly, concisely and effectively. It doesn’t matter whether that’s done in a “posh RP” accent or a regional accent.

I’ve encountered lots of people with “posh” accents who weren’t very bright, weren’t emotionally intelligent enough to connect with people, and who couldn’t think on their feet or string a sentence together when the pressure was on.

LaaDeeDa321 · 08/09/2023 13:44

That doesn’t change a single thing about what I’ve said @678somean

Happiestonthebeach · 08/09/2023 13:47

I have a strong northern accent- it is part of my heritage and to suggest I should change it, I find really offensive. Nobody would suggest someone of indian origin or Polish origin work to try and get rid of their accent or sound "thick" but to suggest working class people get rid of their accent or sound thick seems to be a point for conversation. People can understand what I am saying, and I have a working class northern upbringing that happens to be reflected in how I speak. My accent is less thick than my parents' and I suspect my childrens is less thick than mine- but I think that is the influence of more and more media and being exposed to different accents. Language and accents evolve and change.

GrammyBea · 08/09/2023 13:55

😂😂😂

This is 100% nonsense.

edit: comment in response to OP’s post about people overseas requesting people with proper English

Fightyouforthatpie · 08/09/2023 13:56

KimberleyClark · 08/09/2023 10:30

Received Pronunciation.

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It's a South of England Accent that people pretend isn't regional because some people from Harrogate and Edinburgh have affected it as a way of seeming to come from the Home Counties.

Mrsjayy · 08/09/2023 14:06

678somean · 08/09/2023 11:55

Not sheltered, I've traveled all around the word and went to various schools. There is a reason why when you go to other countries they want someone with a 'proper English accent'.

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Oh 😄

Thedogscollar · 08/09/2023 14:14

@678somean Your lack of self awareness and ignorance is astounding. Your posts do not read well infact they barely make sense.
Oh and it's travelled not traveled.

marblesthecat · 08/09/2023 14:24

People do judge accents unfortunately. At uni a lot of southerners assumed I was stupid when they heard my Geordie accent even though I passed the same exams they did to get into that uni. When I left and started working in an office I started to tone down my accent a bit. I just naturally started to annunciate more as I was speaking to people from different places on the phone. I'll be honest I really dislike thick Geordie accents now - my DH gets a death glare if he says aboot/gannin/doon haha. I do still sound north-eastern with my pronunciation of certain words ie "no" but my accent is a lot weaker than it was.