Social Class

Britain has a deeply individualistic society. Nevertheless, it is described as a class-ridden one. Historians say that the class system has survived in Britain because of its flexibility. It has always been possible to buy or marry or even work your way up, so that your children (and their children) belong to a higher social class, than you do. As a result, the class system has never been swept away.

People in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences. They regard it as difficult to become friends with somebody from a different class. This feeling has little to do with conscious loyalty, and nothing to do with a positive belief in the class system itself. It results from the fact that the different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits. Typically, they tend to eat different food at different times of day and call the meals by different names:

Breakfast is usually a packeted “cereal” (e.g. cornflakes) and/or toast and marmalade. It isn’t usually a traditional British breakfast. The traditional British (English) breakfast is a “fry-up” (several items fried together, the most common of which are eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms and even bread), preceded by cereal with milk and followed by toasts, butter and marmalade all washed down with lots of tea. When the “fry-up” is omitted the breakfast is called “continental” (it is usually for working class people).

“Elevenses” is a cup of tea or coffee and some biscuits at around 11 a.m.

Lunch is typically at 1 a.m. But it is often a bit earlier for schoolchildren and those who start work at 8 a.m.

For the urban working class “tea” is the evening meal, eaten as soon as people get home from work (at around 6 p.m.). For other classes, it means a cup of tea and a snack at around 4 p.m.

Supper is the usual word for the evening meal among most people who don’t call it “tea”.

Dinner is also sometimes used for the evening meal. It suggests something rather grander and eaten comparatively late (at 8p.m.). It is associated with formality, receiving (important) guests or going out. And it refers to the midday meal in schools.

Besides, different classes talk about different topics using different styles and accents of English, they enjoy different pastimes and sports, they have different values about what things in life are most important, and different ideas of the correct way to behave.

Traditionally there is a stereotyped view of the upper, middle and working classes. Of course, wealth is a part of the feature that divides people from class to class. But an even greater indication is the way people speak. The English grammar and vocabulary which is used in public speaking, radio and television news broadcasts, books and newspapers is known as “standard British English”. However, most working class people use lots of words and grammar forms, which are regarded as “non-standard”. But the clearest indication of a person’s class is often his/her accent. The most prestigious accent in Britain is known as “Received Pronunciation” or “RP”. It’s a combination of standard English spoken with an RP accent that is usually meant when people talk about “BBC English”, or “Oxford English”, or “ Queen’s English”. RP is not associated with any particular part of the country. The vast majority, however, speak with an accent which is geographically limited (e.g. Bromley accent [ai]→[ei] lady [ai]).