What's the most snobbish thing you've heard out loud?

[Applescruffle]

Online doesn't count. It has to be something said in person.

Here's mine, from two separate people:

"The house was perfect, but if I'm paying that much for it, I don't want to have to drive through a council estate to get there".

"We looked round (school) and it was our favourite, but there's so many council houses round that area so he would just have too many council estate kids in his class with him"

I quite simply do not believe some of these anecdotes. They sound completely inplausible to me. At the very least, these supposed conversations or overheard comments have been ridiculously exaggerated for effect.

I didn't have to go far to find snobbery.

When watching TOTP 2 as a child : "I always thought Slade (the band) were for the lower classes" - my mother

When I first started dating my partner my father refused to park his car outside partners house because "The scumbags round here might steal it" .

I don’t actually put the attitude down to mere snobbery as such - it’s more the expectation of hard work and academic excellence, which is not the same thing.

At only 3, one of our Singaporean nieces wailed to me plaintively about always having to do her homework when she was so tired!

She is now studying medicine at a highly regarded U.K. university.

Someone at a table was saying her friend was boasting about her Grandfather being a pilot in ww2.
If you want to boast you do know your grandchildren great, great uncle had a Victoria Cross for bravery.
1st woman, if I wanted to boast I would tell them my son is a solicitor....
I spat my coffee out laughing.

Yes, I’m sceptical about some. (My two did happen, though, exactly as I said, though certainly, in the case of the second one, the comment was not intended for public consumption, just a low-voiced shorthand to others within the group, not said to the man they were talking about.)

Some of them do read like a local joke from around here, poking fun at a local snobbish stereotype — the socially aspirant mother from a specific suburb, who, seeing her adult child fall into a river, shouts ‘Help, my son the engineer is drowning!’

I also remember taking our daughter to an open day at a prestigious independent London girls' school. The girls were walking through the music department and the older lady music teacher said, "and do you play an instrument" and one of the girls said "no" and teacher said "and which school do you attend?" and the girl replied "name of the lovely state primary" and the teacher literally looked down her nose and said "well, that makes sense!" The state primary was in a very expensive area of London and many of the children went on to top independent schools

Couple of days ago in Superdrug. Woman rushed past me to get to the till. Husband passed her the basket which looked like it had bog standard toiletries in it. She then said loudly in a terribly naice voice “ I do wish they sold more organic products here” You’re in Superdrug love, not Neals Yard.

"I'd never visit you in the north. Not even if you lived in a gated community"

Guy who went to private school. He wasn't joking.

I was interviewing for a role at the London HQ of my previous organisation. One of the panel asked where I was based (staff in the organisation were across the UK). I mentioned I lived in a green place in the North.

'Oh how sweet!' he said 'I have a little place in the country too! Always good to have somewhere to escape to'

I had been talking about my actual home.

How on earth would she properly hide that from her friends, though? Wouldn't they see the Aldi branding on all her food when they come over?

Or did she save the posh-branded bottles and packets and decant every single one?!

And years ago as a teaching student. Preliminary visit for final teaching practice, local state school, the Year 6 teacher called children out one by one, starting with all the boys. Toby is going to posh independent school. James and Cyrus are going to even posher independent. Sam, where are you going? Local comp Sir. Oh yes, sit down, Ben here is going to posh …… I hated both the teacher and the school ethos there and then and had to stick it out for eight miserable weeks. All the teachers who had kids and the head sent their kids to private schools . It had a very weird vibe.

Well it’s not, in itself, but most of those who go on gap year adventures and ‘travelling’ need a fair bit of money to finance it. Saying you wanted to travel and see the world, before embarking on studying for a career, presupposes you weren’t strapped for cash!

Indian.

Her DS is very smart boy but they pushed him a lot.

He did indeed go to one of these top UK unis. She was disappointed her DS only just met his UCAS offer instead of getting 4A*s. Wanted her DS to go to Oxbridge for master's, he did not. Was proud of her son for his 2.1 and then merit at MSc, but she told me she had hoped he'd get a 1st class and a distinction.

She wanted him to do a "high flying" career and isn't too keen that her son chose the civil service fast stream.

In an expensive shop beauty room, getting manicure as a group of bridesmaids. One bridesmaid was saying how they used to get their hair done in the same place but complained about the service and said 'really, I mean I spend more money in this salon than she earns working here in a year'

Perhaps, but that still isn't 'snobbish', as it was said as a plain statement of fact. The other woman in this anecdote was being a reverse snob.

"CHRISTMAS WAS RUINED THE MOMENT YOU GOT THE CHEAP CRACKERS FROM MARKS' "

still makes me howl

Thank you

Years ago now but at my Durham Uni interview I said I came from Canterbury.
Interviewer clearly thought I meant I attended Kings School as he then asked which position I rowed. I said: 'they don't do rowing at my school' & he replied: 'oh, do you think you will fit in here then?'. I chose to go elsewhere (Edinburgh).
When in halls in my first year there was a very sweet girl in the room next to me. She also 'came from Canterbury' & was puzzled she didn't know me.
I pointed out I was 21 & so she said: 'oh perhaps you knew my older sister Plum?' I then pointed out that there were other schools in Canterbury.
Maybe not snobbish but a very narrow mind-set.

When we went to university in North Wales, there was a girl who was asking everybody which borough they were from.

We thought it very strange that she was asking that rather than 'which town/county' - or even just 'where'. Any time somebody said they were from Stockport, Cardiff, Newcastle or wherever, she looked really puzzled. I don't think it was necessary outright snobbery, but probably just a general lack of intelligence or awareness; it simply never occurred to her that there would be anybody at this university who happened not to come from London - over 200 miles away!

But it doesn't cast any aspersions on people who haven't got that cash and it doesn't suggest any sense of superiority. He was asked if he'd always wanted to do X, so he replied honestly that he'd wanted to travel first; that's all.

A friend of a friend once said aloud at a gathering that 'all unemployed people should be made to wear bright orange jumpsuits and do community service work where everyone can see them.. because unemployment is a choice' and the only downside to her house was that it backs on to an ex council estate so all of the 'riff raff' come down her street!

For background, I grew up in the north east, very deprived area, council estate and not ashamed nor would I change it, not many opportunities, mining trade shut down, shipyards shut down.. lots of unemployment that had a generational knock-on effect. Definitely not by choice! I disagreed with her and she stuck to her point, very affluent upbringing, never had to worry about money or her next meal. I'd say it must be nice, but I can't imagine being so close-minded would be nice.

I couldn't get over the fact she even said that aloud.. 😂

It's my experience that those who, for want of a better way of putting it, improve themselves are often the very worst snobs, I've climbed the ladder and I don't want others to follow me!
Another thread recently had posts about living in a Military environment, I found that the worst snobs were the women whose husbands had come up through the ranks, ie become officers after being non-commissioned.

Has anyone here called someone out on their snobbery?

To be fair @oddgirl one oft recited reason for not wanting to apply or go to Oxbridge (and other unis like Durham and Exeter) is that it's 'full of posh private school kids', as if they are all obnoxious twits. Prejudice (akin to snobbishness) works both ways.

Or to re-frame it and use her own logic back on her, "I'm so poor, I can only afford to go to places where they pay their staff NMW" !