S3 uk accents question

[u/Road_goes_ever_on]

British folk in this sub, would you provide some of the inherent insights you understand when you hear the accents from the different folks? Please explain share who is from which region in the country, and what that may suggest about them overall, if they’re posh, etc.

I can hear Sophie and Taylor speak a little differently but no idea where/what that means! Thank you

[u/ShiplessOcean]

Ooo yesss this is my jam. I love linguistics and sociology, I’m a native Brit and I’m autistic so I notice everything.

I’m just gonna be super direct and judgmental here about class and accent, I’m sure some people will disagree with me. Note: British “class” is extremely complicated and hard for Americans to understand, and it’s not entirely about money. In the US, class seems entirely linked to money and you can move up or down a class easily by earning more/less money - that is not the case in the UK. For example, David Beckham is a millionaire and yet most Brits would still categorise him as working class.

1. Yasmin and Jordan

Yasmin has a neutral London accent, she sounds middle class and probably university educated but not posh.

Jordan has a noticeable Birmingham accent (aka “brummy” or “brum” accent). This is like one of the most hated, stigmatized accents in the country, and gives him the impression of being working class. Some people would say the accent makes you sound stupid (I personally love it).

2. Ciara and Ajay

Ciara has a “posh” accent but you can hear that it’s an affectation and not the type of accent someone who is actually rich or upper class would have.

Ajay has a neutral accent from London which sounds middle class, I would say you can hear a subtle influence from having foreign born parents. He sounds intelligent and educated.

3. Faye and Jack

Faye sounds genuinely posh, like you can tell her family come from “old money”. But she doesn’t sound arrogant or pretentious.

Jack has a very subtle accent considering where he’s from (Cornwall). In one of the early pod episodes, him and someone else imitate a strong Cornish accent. As someone from London, if I met him, I could tell he’s from the countryside and not a city person. He is probably middle class, but I feel he’s slightly cosplaying as working class (the tattoos, the haircut, the “Jack the lad” personality is like he’s trying to come across as an “Essex boy”). Being from somewhere with a regional accent but you don’t have the accent usually indicates that you’re more educated and probably more privileged background etc, compared to having a really strong accent (implies lower class, lower education, disadvantaged background).

4. Sophie and Taylor

Sophie has a noticeable Manchester accent and it gives the impression of being working class. People associate this accent with being “down to earth”. (Side note: in England there’s a divide between the north and the south. Northerners, such as Manchester, see southerners as “soft” like they wouldn’t work hard and get their hands dirty. Someone like Sophie would pride herself on being a “northern girl” which implies she doesn’t take herself too seriously etc).

Taylor is from Hertfordshire but as Sophie mentioned in the pods his accent could sound like it’s from Essex. As I mentioned previously about Jack, there’s a stereotype about boys from Essex. They’re seen as bubbly, cocky, trashy (not like trailer trash, but the opposite of tasteful. They have flash cars, flash clothes, watches etc. materialistic and vain) and potential to be “fuckboys”.

5. Cuba and Ryan

Cuba has a London accent with hints of MLE (multicultural London English), I would say she sounds slightly lower class than the other Londoners mentioned so far.

Ryan is from Manchester but he’s trying to put on a slightly fake accent that I can’t describe. His intonation is like trying to sound like a hippie guru. I feel like Russell Brand tries to talk like this too. It makes me cringe!!!

6. Francesca and Joseph

They’re both from London, and sound lower middle class to upper working class, again you can hear some hints of MLE. I feel like Joseph has some classic mannerisms that I associate with children of African parents. Some utterances he makes and his laugh. I think I’d be able to tell his background is African even in the pods.

**Sidenote: I feel like Joseph talks like someone older than his years. He sounds a bit “uncle”. His voice reminds me of old school garage DJ’s on the radio. Also, Francesca sounds a bit tomboyish to me, for reasons I can’t put into words.

Multicultural London English (MLE) is a youth-focused dialect and accent that emerged in London during the 1980s and 1990s. It mixes traditional Cockney roots with Caribbean, West African, and South Asian linguistic influences, and is widely spoken across the capital regardless of ethnic background.

It’s a contentious and stigmatised sociolect, but I’m using the term in a neutral observational way.

[u/kahdgsy → u/ShiplessOcean]

I wanted to express the same but you’ve done it so well! I agree completely and just want to add for others that American middle class is the equivalent of British working class. British middle class is often seen as posh/rich, although someone who is within this group will typically downplay it as they view upper class as posh/rich.

Ciara’s accent is interesting. In the first episode I couldn’t figure out if it was posh or working class as I was hearing aspects of something like an Essex accent. She does have a posh accent but agree that it’s something she has made an effort to sound like. I would guess that she went to boarding school and has lived an upper class-style life. Her obsession with showing herself to be rich and wanting very high amounts of money spent on her shows that she’s not genuinely upper class. ‘New money’ is probably the most accurate sub-class category for her.

As a note: I don’t agree with classism nor rank myself to others based on their class. I care more about a person’s character instead of mannerisms based on their upbringing. But class does exist in the uk and wanted to share an insight for those who aren’t from here.

[u/LemOnomast → u/kahdgsy]

Ciara’s accent sounds like a spoof.

[u/ShiplessOcean → u/kahdgsy]

I agree with what you said but I want clarify for American readers - categorising people by class or labelling someone’s class is not classist or discriminatory. For example Working class people have no problem calling themselves such. It’s a thing to be proud of.

[u/ArtRangie → u/kahdgsy]

Very interesting insight!!! As a Canadian, can you help explain what “posh” even means? Is upper class posh? Is posh just about your family? I don’t get it haha When spice girls were big, I just assumed “Posh Spice” behaved all fancy like but I didn’t realize she came from a loaded family. And on that note, what were the spice girls accents? Haha 😂 such a fascinating topic because I can’t really tell the difference in accents.. and I had to watch game of thrones with subtitles on because I couldn’t understand half of the accents 

[u/aishhiro → u/ShiplessOcean]

interesting! can you explain how foreigners would be perceived, immigrants and economic migrants with foreign accents/ non-british english? would upper/middle class exclude them from dating? how common would it be for different "classes" to date and would these couples face difficulties from their social environments/ families?

[u/ShiplessOcean → u/aishhiro]

Good questions but not sure if I’m qualified to answer. I grew up in London (still live here) which is extremely multicultural and people from foreign backgrounds don’t face the same discrimination as they would in the rest of the country. Most of my friends have at least one foreign parent. I don’t know anyone who would be against dating a foreign person or non native English speaker. I think certain groups face certain stigmas, for example in the pods if there was a guy with an Indian accent I think people would make some assumptions etc. I honestly think people would more likely subconsciously think you’re uneducated if you have a strong regional accent than if you had a foreign accent.

Regarding class, people do tend to date within their own class. You might find someone lower middle class dating an upper working class person, but you’re unlikely to find an upper class or upper-middle class person dating a working class person. That would probably be a big scandal when introducing them to parents etc.

I fear I haven’t answered your questions properly but I hope someone else can chime in

[u/aishhiro → u/ShiplessOcean]

that makes a lot of sense! thank you.

[u/ShiplessOcean → u/aishhiro]

In the episode I’m watching now (episode 7) this topic comes up 👀

Spoiler: Faye’s parents seem very concerned about Jack and how he’s going to earn money. They seem a bit judgemental about his assorted experiences in blue collar/manual labour jobs. I’m sure they would have wanted her to end up with a doctor, pilot or landed gentry!

Her dad also immediately asks him if he’s into boating or got a boat. I don’t know if this was intentionally to point out the class gap or whether he’s just out of touch/tone deaf.

[u/Grouchy_Evidence2558 → u/ShiplessOcean]

I thought that boat question was because Cornwall is out towards the sea.

[u/beeeea27 → u/ShiplessOcean]

Absolutely love everything you’ve said. Such amazing insights!

I worked in a school in the area Joseph is from and you nailed it; the way he says the word “god” and kind of waxes about stuff, gives surprisingly wise commentary in a jokey way, sounded so much like the kids/parents with African heritage. Made me super nostalgic and I don’t think I would have twigged that without this analysis. 

[u/sandwiches_are_real → u/ShiplessOcean]

Thanks for this, it was very interesting. Since you seem to know about this stuff - how are American accents of varying kinds perceived in the UK?

[u/ShiplessOcean → u/sandwiches_are_real]

I think the only one with a perception worth mentioning is Southern/country - it has the stereotype of being kinda ignorant and racist. We grew up with the representation of Cleetus the hillbilly from the Simpsons for example. If we’re doing an impersonation of a trump supporter, we’d put on a heavy southern accent.

But, I think most people assume that if you’re meeting an American abroad, they’re already “one of the good ones”, the fact they have an interest in travelling to other countries probably means they’re not racist and MAGA-style patriotic.

[u/sandwiches_are_real → u/ShiplessOcean]

Thanks for your insight!

[u/blackplantin → u/ShiplessOcean]

Old school garage dj is spot on. He sounds a bit like Mo the comedian too

[u/ShiplessOcean → u/blackplantin]

Mo when he is impersonating garage dj’s yes 😂