On Being Middle Class...

[FredPuli43]

(No, not one of Bacon's essays) Do you think class distinction has now died out in Britain? Do you find yourself saying something which, on reflection, defines you as aspirational middle class, or hear someone else doing so ?

Examples: My mother's father was a brickmaker's labourer. When she discovered that my current girlfriend was an "Honourable", she couldn't wait to tell everybody. To me, the girl was just a girlfriend. And my Welsh grandmother in law, confronted with an old friend who said proudly "My grand- daughter is marrying a dentist from Cardiff !", capped it with "Mine is marrying a gentleman from London!" This, recounted, greatly amused my fiancée, if only because I was never a gentleman

[tamborine]

Eton boys start at 11y after passing the entrance exam & paying fees.

Eton's educational values are Arts & Habits, preparing pupils to 'lead' in their life choices.

http://www.etoncollege.com/william_cory.aspx

[dunnitall]

No class distinction will never die out in Britain or anywhere else. Even the caste system in India is alive and well (class distinction by any other name) in that country and here. Humans are that way like it or not there will always be distinction by breeding and culture.

[pixie373]

I don't agree. I've never heard people using the class system in real life. I think it's history. There is some insecurity, certainly. I have a friend who has literally extended her house to "match the neighbours'". But that is personality, not class. I think it actually stopped years ago and only old people understand it or think that way now.

[pixie373]

Sorry- i didn't mean my last comment to sound as rude as it actually does!

[tamborine]

snobbery aint class ;)

[dave50]

I know that money definitely does not buy class, just think footballers and their wags.

[pixie373]

She would love to be called a snob, tambo- i think that's the aim;-)