3 ms·
Somewhat related to your comment, there's the phenomenon of upper-class English being in many ways more similar to that of the lower working classes, while midd
by Mordisquitos 5y ago
Somewhat related to your comment, there's the phenomenon of upper-class English being in many ways more similar to that of the lower working classes, while middle-class English tries to differentiate itself by using words and expressions that sound fancier or more refined: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English
- denton-scratch 5y agoThis is correct. The "middle class" is quite a recent invention; it arrived with the Industrial Revolution, and is largely Victorian in origin. The growth of commerce prompted a demand for large numbers of clerical workers: people who wore suits and ties to work, and lived in their own homes in the suburbs. These were not aristocrats moving down the scale; these were aspirational working-class folk, who wanted to separate themselves from their background. Most of us are now pretty-much middle-class. Regional accents have softened; we're all familiar with middle-class manners and customs; farming and manufacturing nowadays employ very few workers. Most of us are more-or-less clerical workers now.