Ridiculing Peers for their Accent?

Soldato
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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/educati...nd-facing-toxic-attitude-at-durham-university

Yes, I understand many will instantly be anti-Guardian, calling it a "Corbynista/Lefty (can't say this word) nonsense" story, but hear me out... As somebody who attends this university, I can certainly say that I have seen this sort of behaviour with my own eyes in my short time here even though I don't have to deal with many undergraduate students.

For some unfathomable reason, in the last couple of years those who have gone through their private education, sheltered and showered by their importance, have begun to undertake this toxic kind of behaviour. Finishing school, they have decided to move to the scummy, coal pits of The North to attend what is one of the Top 5 Universities in the country and once there, they seem to get into this pack mentality. As these groups of students only speak pronounced English, anyone who does not is little more than their inferior, who they begin to exclusively speak down to. Whilst a number I have dealt with have all been perfectly friendly, which may come from being their 'superior' in many situations, one or two have come across as complete ******* and usually end up being told so by myself.

But some of the behaviour in the article, such as one of the cases stated at the end (of which I know a number of details about and will not discuss), have been truly shocking. Where does this mentality actually come from? Do they just need a slap down and taught some respect? A number also seem to forget that they've failed their ridiculously expensive private education by failing to attend an Oxbridge Uni. Whereas the fact that I and many others are attending such a prestigious Uni after our school education is a huge success.

TL;DR: Privileged people act privileged over less privileged people.
 
Soldato
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It happens at quite a lot of universities, they tend to stop if you call them out on it or give them a slap as you mention.
 
Soldato
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Having just graduated I keep meaning to do a survival guide, as stated if it bothers you call them out on it. A lot could be avoided by just wearing headphones though, in a world of your own :D

I guess most people will be spending the rest of the uni year with home learning though, my old uni has just swapped over to all online. Welp at those that are paying top wack and accommodation fee's when they could have done it all from the comfort of ones own home :S

Uni's are a mess I feel, don't think the current model will be around in 10 years, except the elite uni's who will remain as they are >_<
 
Soldato
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Happened when I was there too. Quite common to see a posh lad thinking he was Jonny big balls and then get his face smashed in.

Yeah, it does seem to be targeted toward those who won't fight back. I do remember one situation which went exactly as you say, where a couple of them were quickly silenced by a pair of us who would quite happily have put them in their place. Just rather poor to see its more than just a few select situations where these people pop up.
 
Soldato
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It cuts both ways ... I've been slagged off for having a posh voice. In my day, university was the ideal place to get being a pretentious bell end out of your system before having to live and work in the real world.
 
Associate
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Why is this article trying vilify privately educated individuals? Ultimately the behaviour is not acceptable, people can be cruel in general. To focus purely on privately educated people is not fair and just seems like an easy target.

I can only imagine the ridicule if these privately educated individuals were to complain about bullying and being called "posh" for simply talking properly.
 
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Why is this article trying vilify privately educated individuals? Ultimately the behaviour is not acceptable, people can be cruel in general. To focus purely on privately educated people is not fair and just seems like an easy target.

I can only imagine the ridicule if these privately educated individuals were to complain about bullying and being called "posh" for simply talking properly.

I guess you missed which website it was on then :p
 
Soldato
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I can think of a few non-violent and fairly legal ways of bringing these toffs down a peg or two. I'm sure the locals will too.

A bed full of dog turds springs to mind.
 
Soldato
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I used to get hassled and even punched a couple of times for being “posh.” Combine that with being fat and wearing a yellow school uniform and I didn’t stand a chance.

I mock my Glaswegian colleague often for his accent. It’s hilarious, he comes up with all sorts of stuff. Did you know “going for my messages” means picking up shopping?
 
Caporegime
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I can think of a few non-violent and fairly legal ways of bringing these toffs down a peg or two. I'm sure the locals will too.

A bed full of dog turds springs to mind.

Wouldn't doing such a thing pretty much confirm some of their opinions I.e. feral?

Born and raised in Durham and I would agree that we sound thick as mince. I often cringe when I hear someone with a strong north east accent trying to explain something on TV.
 
Soldato
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I used to get hassled and even punched a couple of times for being “posh.” Combine that with being fat and wearing a yellow school uniform and I didn’t stand a chance.

I mock my Glaswegian colleague often for his accent. It’s hilarious, he comes up with all sorts of stuff. Did you know “going for my messages” means picking up shopping?

That's interesting. The Welsh language uses the same word for running errands/shopping and "message". (The Welsh word "neges").

Wouldn't doing such a thing pretty much confirm some of their opinions I.e. feral?

Does it matter what they think?
 
Soldato
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Wouldn't doing such a thing pretty much confirm some of their opinions I.e. feral?

Born and raised in Durham and I would agree that we sound thick as mince. I often cringe when I hear someone with a strong north east accent trying to explain something on TV.

For balance, I actually overheard a guy explaining what his Maths course consisted of to someone else like it was some shocking breakthrough. They definitely weren't local. :p

Messages can also mean the same here, although I've often heard it used more when it's doing a combination of more than one thing.

For those looking for balance, a good friend of mine at Uni (first time) was v.well off and it never went beyond friendly banter. It certainly never went too far or having a herd mentality against him. For the turd filled revenge, what would that even achieve other than driving an even larger wedge between? The most extreme cases of what's listed in the article have led to expulsion or year-long suspensions. And no, the only mocking of the privately educated in this has come from me. And this leads to what I've encountered within the undergraduate community. They have a pressure to succeed through it, some feel a heightened level of social status because of it, whilst others have ended up here because they've missed out on going to the top 2 and came here as a backup. I guess some bitterness could be caused through that for them...
 
Soldato
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I am a little sceptical but conceivably it might be accurate..

Firstly I didn't know Durham was so prestigious that it was over-run with Toffs, did they all fail getting in to Oxbridge?
Secondly, it's a little OTT in terms of lecturers etc saying they'll never amount to anything due to their accent.
Call me a terrible person but I think the story is so outrageous it smacks of being slightly exaggerated and comes across as classic victimhood.

FWIW, I have been through this myself at School, we moved darn sarf from the north when I was young, right down to the south west, and my parents doubled down by getting my in Grammar school..
I had 4 fights in 2 weeks.. I had to adapt and overcome, so largely dropped the accent and learnt to defend myself.. 2 years later we moved a little further around the coast and day 1 got in a fight as soon as they knew I was 'northern'..

However, I am sure my situation is not normal, lets just say within a month of being harassed I managed to earn the nickname 'psycho'.. that tends to keep people on their toes and things went relatively smoothly.. I ended up with some great mates and had some really good times growing up and never look back with anything other than fond memories on balance.
 
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