An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,

An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,
The moment he talks he makes some other
Englishman despise him.

This is part of song by Dr Doolittle in 'My Fair Lady'.

<An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,>

I hope so. I'm a working class Englishman and want to be identified in that way.

***I'm a working class Englishman and want to be identified in that way***

Then you identify with everyone else who earns their living by the application of their labour, no matter what their status or social class.

In that respect Queen Elizabeth II, the British Head of State, is no different from old Joe Bloggs, the bloke who makes sure the public loos in the town centre are spick and span and hygienically maintained on a daily basis.

Lizzie works for a living, performs all the duties required of her, and though she doesn't actually have a salary directly credited to her bank account every month like the rest of us, she still gets paid out of the public purse. I don't think she ever accepts tips or gratuities though! She inherited her position, true enough, but the principle is the same as far as this issue is concerned.

Joe gets paid for his services as well.....and the occasional tip is always welcome no doubt.

So what's the difference?....the term "working class" applies to everyone who exchanges their labour/time/services of whatever kind for monetary reward.

Both the Queen and old Joe, and the rest of us "salary slaves" are working class. End of.

<Then you identify with everyone else who earns their living by the application of their labour, no matter what their status or social class. >

Damian, you don't know what the label "working class" means.

M56

then explain us.

We have dictionaries for such definitions:

Quick definitions (working class)

noun: a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages

Not to be presumptious, but I suppose working class in England is no longer a mere function of one's occupation, but also extends to other attributes such as accent (duh), social tastes and preferences, education as well as family background.

John Preston revels in coming from a blue-collar working class background. He continues to speak with a working class brogue but education has evidently lifted him up to the level of the middle class, whether he likes it or not.

<<Then you identify with everyone else who earns their living by the application of their labour, no matter what their status or social class. >

Damian, you don't know what the label "working class" means.>>

Working class people are those who do MANUAL work, so only the blue-collar, not the white-collar people. Therefore, the Queen is NOT working-class, and you (Damian), as a journalist aren't, either. And funnily enough, not even the scallies/chavs/neds should be classified as working-class, simply because they DO NOT work.

However, I consider the label 'working' class to be a misnomer, since everyone is technically a worker who 'exchanges their labour of some kind of monetary reward'. Hence the expressions 'intellectual workers' and 'manual workers'.

Anyway, I don't think there is still a clear-cut division between the social classes. A few decades ago, it was rather problematic, say, for a working-class man to marry a(n upper-)middle-class woman. (And it is still condemned by some snobbish people and is labelled as a 'misalliance', which is again a misnomer in my opinion. The French expression 'mésalliance' is a lot better, since it doesn't indicate that there is something wrong with the marriage (més=below, mis=in a wrong way).

Social classes are easily mixed now, due to social mobility. Just to mention my own example: my parents' marriage was/is a so-called 'misalliance' - my dad is working-class (he is white-collar now, got further education after his skilled trade (used to be a mechanic), my mother is of noble/upper-middle-class ancestry. Not everyone thought that it was a good idea but their marriage has been proven to be extremely good (in all respects).

Well, in a nutshell, I think of this issue as a bit old fashioned thing, but we have to accept that there are still many people who stick to this even now, on both ends of the scale: with the snobbish uppity high-class people on one end, and with working-class people like M56 on the other.

Correction:

1. I'm always writing working class, middle class etc with a hyphen for some reason, but I shouldn't

2. <<Well, in a nutshell, I think of this issue as a bit old fashioned thing, but we have to accept that there are still many people who stick to this even now, on both ends of the scale: with the snobbish uppity high-class people on one end, and with working-class people like M56 on the other.>>

Sorry.....it was meant to be 'Mug' not 'M5'

I must say that I agree with the original poster here. The fact that I speak RP essentially prevents me from identifying as 'working class' -- and during my life I have come across a LOT people, whom I would consider to be 'working class', who have hated me because of what they associate with my accent.

<with the snobbish uppity high-class people on one end, and with working-class people like M56 on the other.>>

Hey, I'm "horizontal class". Just show me to the nearest sofa and give me the TV remote control.

;-)

Queen Elizabeth II is a working class?...I could call her so only after if she stops furnishing herself with those legendary fancy hats of her! Do you think she will??