Officer Dibble

No, Australia isnt as classless a people like to believe. I do feel though that the one of the biggest misnomers is that bogans are a social underclass. Ive noted many an Aussie change his accent according to the company hes in and that, to me, is a recent thing.

BadgeIsBack

I've said in the past that bogans are fairly harmless - and not exactly like chavs reviled in the UK. They're not an underclass if they are say cashed up. They are just genuine skilled/unskilled working class people in the main with their own (identifiable) outlook on life. Most people knocking bogans are probably much better educated or enlightened and therefore find them cringeworthy.

Officer Dibble

Bogan means something different now to what it once did. Back in the eighties my Dads mate made a fortune as a scrap metal dealer and my boss now makes a fortune as an underpinner as his father did. They could both be labelled as bogans as they have a strong Aussie accent but I dont think they should be dismissed as bogans and nothing more. Feel strongly about that.

gelato

As an Aussie, I think it's pretty funny seeing British assumptions about accent and class being applied to the Aussie accent. Of course social class and rich vs poor divisions exist in Australia as they do just about everywhere but, unlike in the UK, having a certain accent is unrelated to where you are in life or where you came from and having a 'broad' accent is not an indicator of how rich you are and or what social class you are.

I remember once seeing John Singleton (advertising mogul) made a speech at speech day at my school (he went to my old high school back in the day) and he had a real 'Paul Hogan' accent. So do a lot of rich people I've met in Oz. Even within my own family some have broad accents, some don't. My mum's accent is less broad than that of her sisters as she's lived overseas. All of my family are teachers so we're pretty middle class. (shrug)

I'm not even going to dignify the comments about 'lower social orders'. Didn't know that people who said things like that still existed!

Jan4kids

I heard that it was 'invented' by the children of the original settlers who wanted something in common with each other....like a gang identity. I also heard that it has it's origins in London Cockney and the Irish Accent.

Also can't remember where I read all this lol!, but do remember it being a credible source at the time....'onest Mista

Jan

Officer Dibble

Wasnt Cockney an accent reserved for those within the proximity of the Bow bells? Unless all convicts were East Londoners then I dont know how it can be credited with so much influence over the Australian accent

BadgeIsBack

This is precisely why I think there is a case that Australia is more egalitarian - accents vary across the spectrum and there is more blurring. I would never talk about rich and poor - in the same way as you suggest, these are often assumptions made by other countries when talking about social stratification - (safe anthropological term, I think). Of course, there are self-made UK people who have rough edges, and have made a mint. We talk about the barrow-boy stockbroker. I was a member of a club in London where Old Etonians were two a penny, along with boys from E17. There was often no difference once both were in a strip-joint.

I'm making an assumption that there is variation in accents (often based on socio-demographics as you say) and that certainly not all Australians sound awful. You won't hear me say that.

It was a joke - a term I coined from another poster - and it's not a term I have ever used previously. I normally ignore the peasantry but had to find a safe term to use here in discussion.

But they do exist - the lower orders I mean.

BadgeIsBack

Technically, yes. But there is Cockney, and London. Even now.

Officer Dibble

I can spot a West London accent from a mile away. Just thought you'd like to know.

BadgeIsBack

That's it. People can spot South London accents. I can't claim to.

Officer Dibble

Whats your background, if I may ask?

BadgeIsBack

Upper Middle class. No money, no magic tricks. Just a sense of tradition and service. But people do occasionally like to rub your nose in it from time to time. A British pastime?

Officer Dibble

Good stuff. What service is that?

BadgeIsBack

Church family, and in green, Sir.

I trained as a lawyer academically, but did not enter the profession. After a hiatus, I now work in industry which gives me no end of amusement. If I may say so, it's also steady as she goes. But it was never expected!

Margaret3

Where did my little girls accent come from i hate to say this but it makes me cringe! i really need to take her back to scotland for a period of time