Middle-class trappings

It’s kind of abstract. You would be recognised by others of that tribe, thereby cementing your status.
I once heard the wife of my dentist who had been invited to a dinner party explain to her husband.
“Very nice people..very PLU (people like us)
 
Ziggy said:
It’s kind of abstract. You would be recognised by others of that tribe, thereby cementing your status.
I once heard the wife of my dentist who had been invited to a dinner party explain to her husband.
“Very nice people..very PLU (people like us)
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Very Hyacinth Bucket.

PLT (people like that) can happily stay within their own enclaves as far as I'm concerned
 
HarryVegas said:
Being brought up with working class values, while I wouldn't change my upbringing for anything, isn't itself perfect. Sometimes I catch myself almost wearing my class as a badge of honour, but in retrospect it was also very limiting.
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It's a fair point that working class isn't in itself perfect, yet people in working class culture describe themselves as 'salt of the earth' etc.
 
BoroMart said:
It's a fair point that working class isn't in itself perfect, yet people in working class culture describe themselves as 'salt of the earth' etc.
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TBH I think anyone who goes round saying 'I'm working class, I'm salt of the earth' implying that 'I'm better than you' in some way, very probably isn't really working class.
 
Just being able to afford all day to day expenditure without having to check on affordability. I hold this above most material items( boring perhaps?)
 
BoroMart said:
It's a fair point that working class isn't in itself perfect, yet people in working class culture describe themselves as 'salt of the earth' etc.
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I think that's a self-romanticizing of the working class (I'm guilty of it myself at times) whilst pouring scorn on the "aspirational class" much like the Four Yorkshiremen sketch from Monty Python. I think it's a typically British thing as we still get so obsessed with class, unlike say Americans who are just obsessed with wealth (wherever it came from).


Look at those from say Geordie Shore, richer than most people in the North East but wouldn't know one end of a Aga from the other.
 
You cannot become middle class through income, it’s something you are born into. Having a few quid and buying ‘stuff’ does not make you middle class. It’s a mindset, something you unconsciously are because it is what you are. From what I have observed- private school education, wealthy parents, no discernible accent, never talk about money- as you have always had it and it isn’t something you’d worry about. Never boast about what you buy, as you don’t think it remarkable as you have always been surrounded by nice things and don’t see them as special and the last point- extremely small television.
I don’t own any of the things described in this thread or would I find any of them particularly useful. I have a car that gets me from A-B. Can’t understand why anyone would play vinyl LPs when you can carry 1000s of songs in your pocket and couldn’t tell the difference between good beer or bad beer. I am traditional working class. Live in a terraced house in an ailing post industrial town. I know I am working class as I am not salt of the earth. I have an equally large chip on each shoulder and envy those with money and status. I am however, a veracious reader, love olives and hummus and generally hate the rich.
 
NoloBoro said:
You cannot become middle class through income, it’s something you are born into. Having a few quid and buying ‘stuff’ does not make you middle class. It’s a mindset, something you unconsciously are because it is what you are. From what I have observed- private school education, wealthy parents, no discernible accent, never talk about money- as you have always had it and it isn’t something you’d worry about.
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I agree with some bits but not others. You might be born working class but you can certainly work up to middle class. My accent has softened considerably through living in different parts of the country and abroad, my open mindedness to try new things and learn is an important aspect of being middle class. You don't need a private education to be middle class but it can mean you are middle class from day one, but I wouldn't call it a pre-requisite.
 
NoloBoro said:
You cannot become middle class through income, it’s something you are born into. Having a few quid and buying ‘stuff’ does not make you middle class. It’s a mindset, something you unconsciously are because it is what you are. From what I have observed- private school education, wealthy parents, no discernible accent, never talk about money- as you have always had it and it isn’t something you’d worry about. Never boast about what you buy, as you don’t think it remarkable as you have always been surrounded by nice things and don’t see them as special and the last point- extremely small television.
I don’t own any of the things described in this thread or would I find any of them particularly useful. I have a car that gets me from A-B. Can’t understand why anyone would play vinyl LPs when you can carry 1000s of songs in your pocket and couldn’t tell the difference between good beer or bad beer. I am traditional working class. Live in a terraced house in an ailing post industrial town. I know I am working class as I am not salt of the earth. I have an equally large chip on each shoulder and envy those with money and status. I am however, a veracious reader, love olives and hummus and generally hate the rich.
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See what you've described there is, to me, the established middle class.

There is a lower middle class, that I'd imagine a large proportion of the board sit in, and which I think Newy was arguing isn't really the middle class but we've been led to believe is.
 
Pak_Doo_Ik said:
Most definately, owning anything that would make my grandad say 'bit fancy isn't it' is my definition of middles class and a Nutribullet definately falls in to this category.
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In that case I'm minor royalty. Inside bog, combined with soft paper and.........A CAR!! Time to visit a department store and purchase a crown methinks. Do you think I should get my butler to call ahead so they can get the red carpet ready?
 
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