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Toffs on parade: that's Mayor Boris in the blonde wig
English society is class-ridden. We're fond of saying it's "still" class-ridden, as if we're quite confident that class is about to go away. We feel a bit guilty about it, which is why we refer to it covertly.
our absurdly risk-obsessed society = the fire brigade and ambulance turned up and common firemen and paramedics started telling US what to do!!! see bureaucracy, petty bureaucrats, nanny state etc
In Agatha Christie, if characters refer to people as “the man Archer” or “the girl Amy”, it means those people are working class. Same goes for “a woman called Jane Doe”.
society = working class people, immigrants (How can we create a cohesive society? Do we want a society in which…?)
we = Who are we? We're not part of "society" or "the community". We are not tourists. We are not "hardworking families". We are the people who make decisions for "them". Whoever we are, we certainly have a massive sense of entitlement.
popular culture: working class culture
A “civilised” (ie posh) festival, Rewind has 1980s pop, “glamping”, and champagne bars. Harry Byford in The Week May 2011
all the advantages private school
arriviste Someone who has "arrived" in "good society" from elsewhere
background class origins
bohemian, liberal knows people who aren’t in the top 400, or who
don’t have three houses and three holidays a year
classy posh (but posh people would never say it)
choice getting your children into the best school (and educationalists = commie pinkos?) Choice is considered a dirty word by many educationalists but parents – weirdly enough – are actually quite keen to push their children into better schools. This site helps them beat the system. Daily Telegraph Aug 10
coiffure Mrs Salmond is carefully coiffured. Times May 14 07 (ie lower
middle class)
coiffure three well-manicured,
coiffeured ladies
[in Sedgefield] Guardian June 27, 2007 (and surely it should be coiffured)
community, as in the local community, community picnic, community choir working-class or black people living in an
area who need to be organised and have things laid on for them by patronising
middle class people. The middle classess aren’t “the community” because they can afford to
live where they like and are always moving on.
community, involving the “We” must involve the “community” in what “we”
are doing. “We” are not part of the community. (It’s like thinking human beings
aren’t part of nature.)
community: the local community (people who live locally must be
working class because the Bodens can afford to pick and choose where they live)
cut-glass accents posh voice (New Statesman 2004. Same article
calls the voice “absurdly affected”. It can only be affected if someone’s
learned it in later life. New Statesman readers used to affect a working-class accent.)
dignified black or working class (people we wouldn’t expect to
be dignified) "Dignity" award for
Walker family The family of murdered teenager Anthony Walker have been honoured
for their "calm dignity in the face of tragedy". His mother, Gee Walker, accepted the
first ever Profile In Courage Award from the National Black Crown Prosecution
Association (NBCPA). bbc.co.uk Oct. 13 2006 Alan Johnson and his family are
praised for their “dignity” all over the press July 07. Ie the family hid their
feelings and didn’t show emotion – or only in a very controlled way. Middle class people
don’t like anyone to show emotion in public – maybe because that’s what chavs
do. Working class people in the news are praised by the broadsheets
for “dignity” if they don’t show emotion; but they'll be pilloried by the tabloids. If Lindy
Chamberlain/Kate McCann/Joanne Lees doesn’t show emotion, she
did it. Dignity
also means not selling your story to the media. “The Value of Dignity: A trial
by media will not help to find the truth about Madeleine McCann” Times Sept 20 07
discerning posh
down to earth has the common touch (if said of someone posh)
eclectic bunch contains common people
folk working class people
gritty (gritty reality, urban grit) working class, no Starbucks, not trendy “gritty publishers New English Library” G December 5, 2007
guilty pleasure doing something that
lets the side down, like reading Heat or shopping at Costcutter
hard-working families Middle England (Gordon Brown)
heavy common décor (heavy window treatments). Probably combined
with “garish colour schemes”, “fussy” arrangements and “busy” patterns.
(American)
hysteria working class people protesting, story printed in
tabloid. See MOB LINK GOES HERE.
leafy middle class (suburb, street)
“...enjoyed a dappled upbringing in Hampstead” Guardian 3.20.02 (presumably the
light was dappled after filtering through all those leaves) “Dr Hunter offered
the example of a school in a ‘better, leafy area’ that took three children in
care…” G October 16, 2003 "Cannabis plantation
found in leafy suburb: Cannabis
plants have been found growing at the site of a planned upmarket housing development in a wealthy Aberdeen suburb. Police have been called in after the plants were found growing in greenbelt woodland near the
Milltimber area." Sat 31 Jul 2004 The Scotsman "Friendly female wanted for cosy houseshare in leafy
suburb" "Desirable leafy suburb of Cleethorpes a short walk from the
sea front." “Just because
a school is in a so-called leafy suburb, that does not mean the parents are wealthy. Many will have
stretched themselves to the limit to buy houses in the catchment areas of these
schools." Guardian
mainstream
society aspirant, law-abiding, tax-paying, willing to play the game, the bit some
people are “excluded” from
mass audience = common people
Middle England Martin Jacques has complained that Middle
England is a "metaphor for respectability, the nuclear family,
conservatism, whiteness, middle age and the status quo" New Statesman 25
Oct 07 (that’s a euphemism, Martin, not a metaphor)
mob a lot of working class people (see MOB ADD LINK HERE)
potential common, or possibly black “The middle classes are leaving the state [educational] sector in
droves … partly because they think their children will be mixing with pupils
who will not help their child reach full potential." Nick Clegg, reported in the Evening Standard, Nov 23 07
ordinary
folk working class people (and you’d never say “middle-class folk”)
ordinary
people common people, less-than-rich people
overstuffed
furniture code for lower class “The Farooqs live in a detached house
obscured from a busy road by six fir trees and overgrown foliage, directly
opposite the main entrance to Warwick university. "Tarl-Lea" reads the name plate
fixed between the green garage door and the frosted glass of the porch through
which can be glimpsed the twee furnishings of a comfortable family home: a tasselled
lamp,
an over-stuffed sofa and a slightly garish carpet.” July 7,
2000 The Guardian
people
from all walks of life including working class people, or maybe just working class people
prominent his family was socially prominent, though his performance was
outstanding and the question was salient
showy vulgar
simple working class "He came from a
simple family." the BBC on James Callaghan
smothered in heavy/complicated sauces common food (like
over-stuffed furniture) The middle classes are anti-sauce, it makes food too like babyfood, ie easy to eat and tasty.
society middleclass, law-abiding
society (and probably white). "We" are unquestionably a part of it.
stuffy middle class in the wrong way In classical music, means performers don’t chat to the audience, or look happy, or do facial expressions while they play. (Some do – but you wish they wouldn’t.)
stylish posh (but posh people would never say it)
trendy middle class
unspoilt
(area of France) free of the
wrong kind of Brits
unsuitable (boyfriend) common
urban working class (or black)
very English (eg Elgar) middle class. There’s a sneer in
calling something “very English”. Implies middle-aged, lives in shires,
parochial, quaint, twee, old-fashioned, fusty, cosy. It's the opposite of diverse and vibrant –
qualities valued by a different set of middle class people. And why sneer at
something for being very English when the English are struggling to find a
sense of identity? Perhaps Elgar (Grainger, Butterworth etc.) are tarnished by being used for nationalist rallying. But were they? It’s as grating as calling someone an English Rose LINK HERE.
we, us middle-class people
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