View Full Version : What is your- Social Class?
southall-1998
14-01-2017, 21:24
A lot of it, is to do with how you speak. So, in other words, your dialect. Followed by your background. family, education etc.
Me, I consider myself to be working-class. Well, my dialect is certainly not neutral/pure sounding. Some people do find me, just a tad soft spoken with a hint of Irish. The latter I picked up from my father.
Always lived in residential areas, that are fairly quiet, with also easy walking distance to local shops.
My father, is a registered mental health nurse. My mother, who is now retired was a psychiatric nurse. Plenty nursing runs in the family.
What about you members?
S.
walpurgis
14-01-2017, 21:36
I spent years refining my loutishness. :D
Always found class to be, in many ways, dependant on who you are comparing to. I may be working class to 1 man, and upper class toff to another.
I'm a thoroughbred daftee, with a hint of vagrant...
Marco.
otherwise known as a thorough daftee
Stryder5
14-01-2017, 22:14
I put some people on a pedestal.............but still look down on them:)
walpurgis
14-01-2017, 22:23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VxkltwS9g0
If you want to be cool you have to be working class. Think about it. Nobody who was truly cool was ever middle class or upper class.
Obviously you can be working class and seriously uncool. It's not a guarantee of coolness. Just a prerequisite.
My social class? "Epsilon semi-moron" obviously. :lol:
walpurgis
14-01-2017, 23:37
Think about it. Nobody who was truly cool was ever middle class or upper class.
Can't agree with that. There have been many 'posh' sounding actors who exuded a perceived upper class aura and were definitely cool.
Alistair Sim, Alec Guinness and Terry Thomas immediately spring to mind. THEY were cool guys!
They were not uncool. That's not the same as being cool.
4VxkltwS9g0
We should go back to the old system with the hats. Then nobody would need to ask.
walpurgis
14-01-2017, 23:47
4VxkltwS9g0
We just did that on post 8!
(silly boy, can't take him anywhere. :rolleyes:) :D
We just did that on post 8!
(silly boy, can't take him anywhere. :rolleyes:) :D
Yes, but it's so apt/astute it's worth repeating.
We just did that on post 8!
(silly boy, can't take him anywhere. :rolleyes:) :D
ah...
tha lack of thumbnail on post #8 (and excess of Saturday Night-ism) swayed me a tad.
Sorry Geoff!
Audio Al
15-01-2017, 00:25
Super Daftee , Don't give a sh-t ! Take life a day at a time ;)
Ninanina
15-01-2017, 01:20
I come from a working class background but would describe myself as classless.. I don't have a posh accent put I don't have a 'Pompy' one either (thank goodness!)
I've mixed with upper class people as well as people much further down the so called class list and have loved each of them for their friendship rather than what class they happen to be ;)
Wakefield Turntables
15-01-2017, 10:40
Working class (brought up in a mining village), now nouveau riche through entrepreneurial graft. I still call a spade a spade and dont suffer fools lightly. I mix with all classes and really don't care about finicial status where all only human at the end of the day.
Upper class here.
Im from Cowdenbeath and one simply has to be posh to live there. Lots of inbreeding, but one doesnt care. Ones genes are above that kind of thing.
Champers for breakfast, anyone?
Upper class here.
Im from Cowdenbeath and one simply has to be posh to live there. Lots of inbreeding, but one doesnt care. Ones genes are above that kind of thing.
Champers for breakfast, anyone?
Lol... my mum was born near beath. Silver spoon country :lol: lived in kelty for years b4 moving to Aberdeen as a teenager jus b4 war. Kelty was just a wee place then, unlike today.
Lol... my mum was born near beath. Silver spoon country :lol: lived in kelty for years b4 moving to Aberdeen as a teenager jus b4 war. Kelty was just a wee place then, unlike today.
Silver spoon country.... LOL.. thats about right.
Grant, my Dad was born/brought up in Kelty. (born 1932) Grandad was down the pit there. I probably still have relatives there.
Actually, you and I are probably related, what with us posh folks interbreeding......
My mum was born in Lochgelly, but went to Beath High school. Well posh. She may well have been at school with your Mum. My mum born 1935.
you may be getting a feeling now for my social class.:)
narabdela
15-01-2017, 12:02
Upper class here.
Im from Cowdenbeath and one simply has to be posh to live there.
Nah, class is an English/Foreign thing. Scots have always been more interested in a person's achievments rather than their birth.
"I kent yer faither" is a great leveller.
Loch Jelly? Yummy.
My wife escaped from Kirkcaldy, infamous for linoleum and the Links Market :lol:
It was around lochgelly, Cowdenbeath my mum and hers came from. She was born 1920 and left for up north in about 1934. Granny was a Penman.. a few of them in the area. Mum walked 6 miles to school as a kid and same back in all weathers as even if there was a bus, and there usually wasnt, they couldnt afford the fare lol. Hardctimes....we know nowt about hard times i reckon.:)
Grant, the name Penman is in my family too, the Kelty side.:)
I think it was my grannies side too, I think, but will try to find out.
You could be my long lost relative. The one who got all the Penman millions. Im your long lost cousin. How lucky for both of us! I'll PM my Bank details.
Loch Jelly? Yummy.
My wife escaped from Kirkcaldy, infamous for linoleum and the Links Market :lol:
Peter, you married a Fifer. You have just gone way up in my estimations.
I remember the links market as a kid. i think it is much much smaller these days.
also remember the smell of "lino" in kirkcaldy
Lol... you might get a weekendvin kirkaldy :D. There were a few brithers n sisters in the penmans.. one whae may have been Drew and joans dad, went to London and became a policeman i remember. Im still in contact with that family and get a card at xmas etc. Shes funny. There was Eunie, Catherine and Isa too. Billy as well. Quite a big family. Oh yes and a robert. Lol
Lol... you might get a weekendvin kirkaldy :D. There were a few brithers n sisters in the penmans.. one whae may have been Drew and joans dad, went to London and became a policeman i remember. Im still in contact with that family and get a card at xmas etc. Shes funny. There was Eunie, Catherine and Isa too. Billy as well. Quite a big family. Oh yes and a robert. Lol
LOL....
yes, us posh folks liked big families.
My granny was the eldest of 13.
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 12:56
Was born in Ealing Hospital. Lived in Southall, West London for many years.
I guess some of you can call me the UB1 man :lol:
S.
Working class (brought up in a mining village), now nouveau riche through entrepreneurial graft.
Also working class by birth, now middle class through education, mixing with posh people, wise/lucky house purchasing decisions, and the wish to avoid manual labour at any cost. Children are middle class.
Middle-class by birth, now working-class through lack of education.
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 13:46
Middle class by birth, education etc but some would say poverty and hovel like living arrangements make that working class now.... I say class is permanent even if form is temporary:D
Although both parents were originally working class in extreme both worked hard and with education became i suppose middle class, much to my dads shame lol. I was just classless, some say clueless.:doh:(they,d be wrong) dont care, as there will be no class distinction in heaven if there is one. If there aint then there still wont be one.
Also working class by birth, now middle class through education, mixing with posh people, wise/lucky house purchasing decisions, and the wish to avoid manual labour at any cost.
Is that 'proper' posh, or those [deeply vulgar] pretentious, aspiring middle-classes, who like to kid on they're better than they are, and often spend huge sums of money creating an appropriate 'show-off' image, which they really can't afford? ;)
The nouveau riche are often rather like that, too...
Marco.
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 14:19
Middle class by birth, education etc but some would say poverty and hovel like living arrangements make that working class now.... I say class is permanent even if form is temporary:D
Did you pick up my West London accent on the phone?
S.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 14:22
Did you pick up my West London accent on the phone?
S.
No. But I was surprised (I hope you'll not mind my mentioning it) that it mattered enough to you to PM to ask me that at the time! :scratch:
One of the best shows of true morality and sense of knowing yourselves was a couple of lines from the play and film Hobson,s Choice. Done good Will Mossop tries to take off his wifes brass wedding ring and get her a gold one. She replies...
..."that brass stays where you put it. When and if we get too rich and proud we'll just sit down together quiet and take a long look at it, so as we'll not forget the truth about ourselves. "
Think ive quoted it right...excuse the double inverts. Doh
Sums up what people who rise in world should remember.
Did you pick up my West London accent on the phone?
S.
Yes, he thought it was sexy.
Marco.
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 14:27
No. But I was surprised (I hope you'll not mind my mentioning it) that it mattered enough to you to PM to ask me that at the time! :scratch:
I tend to get a bit confused about my accent. Hence why I asked. Sometimes, I guess it's how the listener perceives you as well.
S.
Mum owned a business and dad was a welder so I guess both middle and working class parents. Both my sister and I went to university, her at the parents expense, me at my own. Professional/managerial by occupation. Still live in working class town, I'm the only one with a degree (or two ;)) amongst my close pals.
By traditional measures of education, profession, home ownership, culture I guess that makes me middle class. Doesn't really mean anything though does it, I've friends far wealthier and with a higher standard of living than I who've come from jobless backgrounds and have no formal education.
One of the best shows of true morality and sense of knowing yourselves was a couple of lines from the play and film Hobson,s Choice. Done good Will Mossop tries to take off his wifes brass wedding ring and get her a gold one. She replies...
Think ive quoted it right...excuse the double inverts. Doh
Sums up what people who rise in world should remember.
Excellent quote. There's WAY too much mania with money and material possessions these days (what 'status' that gives you), and what folk think they're automatically 'entitled to'... :rolleyes:
Yes, it's nice to have nice things, providing you can *genuinely* afford them, but there are far more important things in life than that, such as health, happiness and contentment [the satisfaction of being happy with 'your lot'], being a good parent (if applicable), and not insignificantly, having TIME to do WHAT you want, WHEN *YOU* want, with no-one breathing down your neck, forcing you to do things you don't want to do [the joys of being self-employed or retired]...
*That*, for me, is worth negating a £1m salary for, if earning said salary meant having the exact opposite, and being stressed to buggery in the process!!
Marco.
I tend to get a bit confused about my accent. Hence why I asked. Sometimes, I guess it's how the listener perceives you as well.
Try some heavy-breathing next time. He likes that... Oh, and if you can bark like a dog, on command, that'll *really* get him going!! :lol:
Marco.
Clifford.T Ward
15-01-2017, 14:41
I have watched this thread with interest ....I think Marco's comment is a good comment.......he hits the nail right on the head .....it's not what you have ...or what you say that shows who or what you are......it's what you do in life and how you treat others.........
Precisely - that's the biggest indicator of 'class' of all! ;)
Marco.
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 14:48
Try some heavy-breathing next time. He likes that... Oh, and if you can bark like a dog, on command, that'll *really* get him going!! :lol:
Marco.
Those are indeed some very good tips! Are you an ex male stripper?
;)
S.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 14:51
Whilst not a class thing maybe in the traditional meaning of it, I'll admit to being a bit of a snob in that yes I look down on yer inner city council estate, thick, chav type.... You'll know the type, can't get one sentence out without multiple swear words, life seems to revolve around footie, the dogs and whose " 'ardest"... often seem to be coked out of their brains such is their natural "nervous, energy"/agitation (a friend calls them "jumpy Jacks" which seems to fit well!). I try to avoid offending such types (I don't consciously want to offend them!) by saying little and trying to distance myself physically as soon as I can without making it too obvious.... but close friends have imparted to me that when in the company of such types my body language, facial expressions and tone of voice make it only too clear as to what I think of them... and that it doesn't go down well to put it mildly!
Those are indeed some very good tips! Are you an ex male stripper?
;)
S.
No, I operate a sex-chat line from home. Do you want the number? :D
Marco.
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 14:52
No, I operate a sex-chat line from home. Do you want the number? :D
Marco.
My sex drive has drifted out of spec :lol:
S.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 14:53
Try some heavy-breathing next time. He likes that... Oh, and if you can bark like a dog, on command, that'll *really* get him going!! :lol:
Marco.
But you know how much I charge you for those phone calls Marco :eyebrows: :lol:
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 14:54
Whilst not a class thing maybe in the traditional meaning of it, I'll admit to being a bit of a snob in that yes I look down on yer inner city council estate, thick, chav type.... You'll know the type, can't get one sentence out without multiple swear words, life seems to revolve around footie, the dogs and whose " 'ardest"... often seem to be coked out of their brains such is their natural "nervous, energy"/agitation (a friend calls them "jumpy Jacks" which seems to fit well!). I try to avoid offending such types (I don't consciously want to offend them!) by saying little and trying to distance myself physically as soon as I can without making it too obvious.... but close friends have imparted to me that when in the company of such types my body language, facial expressions and tone of voice make it only too clear as to what I think of them... and that it doesn't go down well to put it mildly!
You sound educated and collected. To my ears anyway!
S.
No, I operate a sex-chat line from home. Do you want the number? :D
Marco.
Got a couple of old grannies talking dirty to you over the phone for £3 a minute. ;). They occupy the wee room at btm of garden and are only let out for 10 mins on xmas day
Whilst not a class thing maybe in the traditional meaning of it, I'll admit to being a bit of a snob in that yes I look down on yer inner city council estate, thick, chav type.... You'll know the type, can't get one sentence out without multiple swear words, life seems to revolve around footie, the dogs and whose " 'ardest"... often seem to be coked out of their brains such is their natural "nervous, energy"/agitation (a friend calls them "jumpy Jacks" which seems to fit well!). I try to avoid offending such types (I don't consciously want to offend them!) by saying little and trying to distance myself physically as soon as I can without making it too obvious.... but close friends have imparted to me that when in the company of such types my body language, facial expressions and tone of voice make it only too clear as to what I think of them... and that it doesn't go down well to put it mildly!
All very interesting, old chap, but why would one ever be in the same vicinity as those scoundrels? ;)
You're obviously socialising in the wrong places!
Marco.
Got a couple of old grannies talking dirty to you over the phone for £3 a minute. ;). They occupy the wee room at btm of garden and are only let out for 10 mins on xmas day
Aye, it's a great wee earner!! :lolsign:
Marco.
But you know how much I charge you for those phone calls Marco :eyebrows: :lol:
Worth every penny, dahling, especially when you do that 'French waiter' thing.... :D
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 15:02
All very interesting, old chap, but why would one ever be in the same vicinity as those scoundrels? ;)
You're obviously socialising in the wrong places!
Marco.
Nah I'm just a numpty magnet! They'll come up to me asking how come I have dreadlocks etc... Close friends will soon try to take over/defuse the conversation before I. apparently, and without actually voicing an opinion, or knowing that I'm doing it, say to them "bugger off you thick low life" purely by my unconscious non verbal reactions... :eek: :D
Is that 'proper' posh, or those [deeply vulgar] pretentious, aspiring middle-classes, who like to kid on they're better than they are, and often spend huge sums of money creating an appropriate 'show-off' image, which they really can't afford? ;)
The nouveau riche are often rather like that, too...
Marco.
I never troubled to ask them. I guess I should have demanded a copy of their family tree, just to be on the safe side.
Nah I'm just a numpty magnet! They'll come up to me asking how come I have dreadlocks etc... Close friends will soon try to take over/defuse the conversation before I. apparently, and without actually voicing an opinion, or knowing that I'm doing it, say to them "bugger off you thick low life" purely by my unconscious non verbal reactions... :eek: :D
I used to just lamp the badtards and be end of it. The keep away after that. Manky gits
I never troubled to ask them. I guess I should have demanded a copy of their family tree, just to be on the safe side.
Nah, you can tell the type a MILE away! And a smart chap like you should know....
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 15:08
You sound educated and collected. To my ears anyway!
S.
Why thank you... and you don't even ask for the "French waiter thing"... or the "baahh-ing" which hurts my vocal chords by the time Marco's "finished" :D
Class is one thing, wealth another and manners/behaviour yet another.
I know both wealthy and poor people with no manners and also know plenty who are the most decent and honest people you could hope to meet.
Nah I'm just a numpty magnet! They'll come up to me asking how come I have dreadlocks etc... Close friends will soon try to take over/defuse the conversation before I. apparently, and without actually voicing an opinion, or knowing that I'm doing it, say to them "bugger off you thick low life" purely by my unconscious non verbal reactions... :eek: :D
Ah, gotcha... Thought for a second you were shopping in Farmfoods! :lol:
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 15:12
I used to just lamp the badtards and be end of it. The keep away after that. Manky gits
I'm barred from enough pubs already thanks....
I'm barred from enough pubs already thanks....
I dont go to pubs these days. Not fit enough ;). Dont drink much either
Middle-class by birth, now working-class through lack of education.
Marco.
I thought your parents owned a chippy? Or is that middle-class by Glasgow standards?
Never met a poor chipshop owner in Glasgow... its better than the bookies lol
Nah, you can tell the type a MILE away! And a smart chap like you should know....
Marco.
Maybe I could now; I certainly couldn't in my late teens. Anyway, back then posh people pretended not to be posh, as it wasn't 'cool'.
I thought your parents owned a chippy? Or is that middle-class by Glasgow standards?
Lol - that reply you quoted was a piss-take. However, it didn't stop them from having the money to send me to prep school... ;)
Seriously though, I don't 'do' the whole class-labelling thing, as I find it vulgar (and often pointless) in the extreme.
Marco.
Never met a poor chipshop owner in Glasgow... its better than the bookies lol
Indeed, and it wasn't just one either... ;)
How do you think I developed a taste for fine wine and gourmet food, from the age of 5? :D
Marco.
I thought your parents owned a chippy? Or is that middle-class by Glasgow standards?
By traditional measures, small business ownership was an identifier of middle class.
However it's been a long time since my sociology studies.
Indeed, and it wasn't just one either... ;)
How do you think I developed a taste for fine wine and gourmet food, from the age of 5? :D
Marco.
Serafini in our town way back when i was young had a big sit down place with ice cream and fish teas etc. He was loaded. Wasnt a big town but you could make a lot, especially in 60/70,s ...
Whilst not a class thing maybe in the traditional meaning of it, I'll admit to being a bit of a snob in that yes I look down on yer inner city council estate, thick, chav type.... You'll know the type, can't get one sentence out without multiple swear words, life seems to revolve around footie, the dogs and whose " 'ardest"... often seem to be coked out of their brains such is their natural "nervous, energy"/agitation (a friend calls them "jumpy Jacks" which seems to fit well!). I try to avoid offending such types (I don't consciously want to offend them!) by saying little and trying to distance myself physically as soon as I can without making it too obvious.... but close friends have imparted to me that when in the company of such types my body language, facial expressions and tone of voice make it only too clear as to what I think of them... and that it doesn't go down well to put it mildly!
For me, this is the biggest class divide in society: Those who contribute to society and those who leech off it, spoil it for others, disrespect law and morality, commit crimes and generally drag our society down. Essentially it's those who have class and those who don't.
By traditional measures, small business ownership was an identifier of middle class.
That's actually very true, Rich :)
In terms of chippies, and making good money from them, the key is to locate them in typically working-class areas, ideally right in the middle of a housing estate, as a) the cuisine would be appreciated by the locals, many of whom would be far from 'cash poor', and b) being right on their doorstep makes them use you [if you're good, and we were], and once you build up a good rapport with them, you've got regular customers for life!
We had queues, for miles, outside our shops every Friday and Saturday night... I can tell you, in all seriousness, that my parents earned a very good living indeed from it, and with being an only child, I, shall we say, benefited rather nicely, accordingly! ;)
Marco.
Serafini in our town way back when i was young had a big sit down place with ice cream and fish teas etc. He was loaded. Wasnt a big town but you could make a lot, especially in 60/70,s ...
Damned right, mate, but you had to put the hours in! It's quite an unsociable existence, and not really a life for a young guy, which is why I swerved it when the old boy retired. By that time, I had my own, equally successful, business anyway :)
Marco.
By traditional measures, small business ownership was an identifier of middle class.
However it's been a long time since my sociology studies.
Dad must have been in upper middle lol as he ran a huge company ...the coop. ;). Not bad for a labours son in the 20,s... shows what hard graft can get you...and a bit of luck
Arkless Electronics
15-01-2017, 16:18
By traditional measures, small business ownership was an identifier of middle class.
However it's been a long time since my sociology studies.
Nowadays it's more an indication of having recently been made redundant!
My father was definitely working class. My mother came from an upper middle class background, but without the money.
Dad realised from a very early age the only way he could improve his 'lot', was through his own hard work. Owing to childhood illness, hehad missed out on much of his schooling, so when he could he went to evening classes to catch up. (He taught me how to derive the square root of a number by hand, and how to calculate the area of a circle). After a few years working for Bristol cars, he and a mechanic collegue decided to start their own business. The early days were hard and difficult; he would work six days week, and went through times of financial uncertainty. But eventually the business grew to a size where they employed 100 staff. It was all down to their hard work - no claiming benefits.
southall-1998
15-01-2017, 20:35
Interesting post, Barry.
S.
Mama Tried?
I don't really fit into any of them.
Mostly middle class with a run of poverty growing up.
Education and career wise I'd probably be considered upper class by most.
My mannerisms and attitude have always been more blue collar.
My friends range from middle class down to scum of the earth. I've never enjoyed "high society". I can fake it when necessary.
Suit and tie by day/metal t-shirt and jeans by night.
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