b3ta.com qotw
You are not logged in. Login or Signup
Home » Question of the Week » Common » Post 278113 | Search
This is a question Common

Freddy Woo writes, "My wife thinks calling the front room a lounge is common. Worse, a friend of hers recently admonished her daughter for calling a toilet, a toilet. Lavatory darling. It's lavatory."

My own mother refused to let me use the word 'oblong' instead of 'rectangle'. Which is just odd, to be honest.

What stuff do you think is common?

(, Thu 16 Oct 2008, 16:06)
Pages: Latest, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, ... 1

« Go Back | See The Full Thread

There are an amazing amount of prescriptivists out there, it seems.
I am saddened by reading opinions like this. Do you think the lower classes choose to speak like this? They learn by osmosis!

I understand what you are saying as I speak in a mix between estuary and RP in order to distingusish myself from my coucil estate peers at school. I hate the fact that I had to deny my linguistic roots in order to fit into what the middle classes perceive as 'correct'. What do you think our prime ministers speak in this country, however?

My grandad is a self made man, he grew up in a two-up, two-down in Batley with 6 siblings and still managed to become highly successful as a Doctor and adopt many children of different races (this was in the 70's in Yorkshire, you can imagine the tattle. Unfortunately, he speaks his regional Yorkshire accent. Does this make him still one of the 'lower classes'?

If I ever met someone and they said lower classes I would actually punch them. There is a time and place for language.
(, Sun 19 Oct 2008, 13:24, Reply)

« Go Back | See The Full Thread

Pages: Latest, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, ... 1