This is something Iâve been dying to talk about.
Thereâs something called culture. People (especially USAmericans) think of culture as cultural dress, cultural food, cultural music. These are culture, but they are only the very superficial aspects of it. Like the icing on your cake. Far more deep rooted is the more meaty bits of culture: the attitudes, the ideas, the taboos.
Thereâs a guy on tiktok who has done a series that shows this very well, of Germans Vs Irish. In one video the German offers the Irish person two kinds of tea, green or black. The Irish person keeps putting off the choice with things like âOh sure whatever is easiestâ, âWhich have you more of?â and, âAh sure I donât want to cause a fussâ whereas the German just wants a straight answer. This is a cultural difference of politeness.
Here in the UK, accents mark your class very openly. They let everyone know where youâre from (though this has become less pronounced in the last 50 years,) and what your background is. A lot of people (especially northerners, but also a fair contingent of working class southerners) face discrimination on the basis of their accents.
Some of us (myself included) even change register (though I believe USAmericans call it code switching) in and out of our regional accent and a close approximation of RP. We learn to do it because it makes us seem more intelligent (even though it shouldnât) and helps us be taken more seriously.
Thus, our country carries a lot of baggage when it comes to accents. Especially those of the working class who have had their accents made fun of, or have faced discrimination based on it.
So when someone outside the country (usually USAmericans) makes fun of our accents theyâre stepping on a lot of cultural taboos and boundaries. Especially because the âItâs Chewsday, gonnae wot-ch sum yewchube innitâ is a working class accent.
Now, thatâs not to say we canât take a joke, but this is the kind of joke you share with someone who you have been friends with for a while. My boyfriend often will pick up on the way I say certain words, in much the same fashion I pick up on his idiosyncrasies of speech (English isnât his first language so he says stuff like close the lights, which is adorable.) If we arenât predisposed to liking you, then the joke youâre trying to make is more like an insult.
The way I like to think of it is if you were in a pub, and made those sorts of jokes to someone. If they knew you, and they liked you, theyâd probably laugh along. If they didnât like you or know you, they would punch you in the jaw.
HOWEVER: I recognise this post as a joke. I donât personally find these jokes offensive, but then no one really makes fun of me or considers me stupid because of my accent.
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