To think that many Mumsnetters despise regional accents and dialects?

[binnibonnieboo]

I'm Irish, and I've been on Mumsnet for years. I've seen so many threads fulminating about pronunciation, spelling and grammar. These so often ignore the diverse accents and dialects across the UK and Ireland. There seems to be a view that anything not RP or standard southern English is common, ill educated, Americanised (wrong), and just Not Right. Sometimes (not always) I sense a thinly veiled contempt for how I and others (Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh, northern English) talk. AIBU to feel this?

A standard southern English accent is what I have. Non-rhotic.

To be fair it's more dialect than accent, with an occasional spat about how things should be pronounced

Imagine being so backward you are “not keen on” regional accents.

However: most with English accents use the intrusive r, which is an absolute abomination. The day my English accented son told me he had done a “DRAWRING”, I nearly wept.

It's two different words, which are spelled the same.

How do you pronounce the word "wind"?

I don't think there is a standard southern English accent, but most of the South East accents are non-rhotic.

Southern England - Wikipedia

Imagine being so backward that you find other people's accents as an abomination.

I’m confused, spelling and grammar are right or wrong, they don’t have a regional accent. How does anyone know you’re Irish to disparage you when you write as opposed to speak? Do you know what accent I have?

I have a Masters in Voice from the Central School of Speech and Drama and taught RP at a drama school (my native accent is Northern Irish).

From discussions I have had about accents among friends and acquaintances, you’re very much in the minority in finding them boring.

Most people seem absolutely fascinated by them.

Let’s be accurate, @MasterBeth: I opined that one feature of RP is an abomination, not the entire accent.

Grammar isn't always right or wrong, there can be variations according to where you are from. Thus Hiberno English usage can be disparaged.

I’m 55 now and I’ve had several accents. DF was in the RAF and we moved very 3 years or so. Moving from Buckinghamshire to Yorkshire I was labelled posh. Then from Yorkshire to North Wales (very close to the English border), I had the piss taken out of me and called Emmerdale Farm girl. Now I’m called posh again because I don’t have the typical accent for this area (close to Liverpool so a bit Scouse).
🙄

What nonsense. My first husband was Irish and the 2nd was from Yorkshire. I speak the Queen's english.
My stepfather is Indian with an Indian accent.
I get a lot of people mocking my accent and asking if Im "posh" and making assumptions about my family being rich. We are not, we were 100 years ago but not anymore.
Its very tedious.

Two separate things there, I think - whether you make it two syllables and whether you pronounce the R. Some west country or other rhotic people would say drorr but it's still one syllable. And some non-rhotic people would say draw-uh - two syllables but still no R. (For me, it's draw. That's true of most people where I live - and it's amazing how many WRITE drawer as draw).

Of course there is.

I love accents - the more the merrier.
Variety is the spice of life.

To clarify a little, of course, generally, people can't tell what nationality a person is by how they write on Mumsnet. Though there may be things that do indicate it. If I see someone saying that a person was "giving out yards" I might think they were also Irish. I use this example as that has in fact occurred.
But what I meant was more the type of aitch/haitch discussion, where those of us who say haitch have been described as wrong and badly educated, even when informed that it is standard in many areas. I have encountered this type of thing quite often on here.

Agree entirely with this, esp. the “haitch/aitch” thing.

Not so much regional, but yes, there are some vocal MNers - alongsidesome very vocal members of the general public - who have strong rage around accents and dialects that are different from what they're expecting, and IME, it's getting worse recently on here and elsewhere.

In the last year, I've had far more people get aggressive that I have a mixed accent with some words clearly not local sounding than ever before. I've been shouted at work about "That's not a local accent!" when answering question, I've had quite a few get really annoyed when they ask how long I've lived here if I say that I've lived where I do for over 20 years as they seem to view it insulting that I don't sound perfectly local - I've had the desire to bring up that Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived in the US longer than I've been alive and still sounds as he does, but never yet had the energy to come out with it to anyone who pulls this.

I've been told on here that still having such an accent after so long is a failure on my part, and that's certainly how it seems people have started reacting towards me in the last year or so - not only my failure, but that I should just accept the abuse as punishment for failing to sound local. I'm at the point now where I no longer answer questions about why I sound weird, I openly say I'm not comfortable discussing it anymore or just walk away when I'm asked. I've given up trying to be polite to people who care more about how I sound rather than the content of what I ay.

spelling and grammar are right or wrong, they don’t have a regional accent.

Standard spelling and grammar for Modern English didn't really start cementing until the late 18th century, and Standard English is based on the accents, dialects, and ideas around language of those who developed the texts that then had the power for them to become the standard. Even with that, spelling can show accents - see Mum/Mom/Mam - and as writing online tends to be more in-line with how people think and talk rather than Standard English, it often shows dialects.

If you were brought up with RP as the standard, then certain things in common usage, eg, “aitch” pronounced “haitch”, are incorrect.

I see those as two different ways of saying it. I don't see either as incorrect. I don't see the point of putting that kind of value judgement on something like that.

Just because we're brought up using language a certain way doesn't mean we need to view other ways negatively. That's a choice.

so there has been a genuine concern about the Americanisation of "holidays". Which in itself is an American phrase.

Holiday comes from Old English and regularly used to refer Christian festivals for centuries. It was in British English that it became expanded to mean any time off work, religious occasion for any faith and certain secular occasions as well like Bank Holidays and New Years. The earliest American texts I'm aware of followed the latter part significantly later. It may be more popular in the US now, I don't think that makes it an American phrase. It, like many 'Americanisms' is a Britishism that either fell out favour or was never used in wealthier parts of England and just ignored that it's used in other parts of the country or the Anglosphere well beyond and was brought to the US.

I don’t find accents in general boring like if I met someone with an unusual accent in real life I’d probably be subconsciously interested. I’d find a thread here about it incredibly boring though

@MasterBeththis Wikipedia page describes the geographical area that forms the south east of England. It doesn’t state there’s a standard accent of the south east -and that’s because there most definitely isn’t.

You do get a lot of ‘professional Northerners’ though. ‘Don’t think just because I’m northern that..’ ‘it’s because I’m Northern!’ ‘Oooh listen to you with your posh voice! So down to Earth, us Northerners’ etc, like they think everything they say and do is somehow more authentic because they were born in Hull (looking at you MIL)

South Wales is a region of Wales

Indeed but here in Somerset we didn't until it was shown on every American TV show and all the films. It's not a British national event like in the us.

Hence my explanation to the American poster why sometimes, things from the us are not appreciated in the UK. Like my friend experienced when she lived in the us and was asked if we celebrate July 4th.

YANBU, OP. There is also dislike of working-class southeastern English accents. Particularly, those from London, Essex etc. Estuary English and MLE. The features of those accents and dialects are considered grammatically incorrect. It seems a lot of Mumsnetters think the only acceptable accent to have if you're from SE England is RP.

What's wrong with a bit of banter within the family? They tease me for how I say "book" and I tease them for not being able to say "whisper". It's just a bit of fun.