upper class speech
Elite verbal patterns
Upper class speech refers to the pronunciation, vocabulary, and patterns characteristic of wealthy or aristocratic social groups.
In Britain especially, it marks distinctions like saying "lavatory" rather than "toilet" or dropping certain regional features in favor of Received Pronunciation.
The term often appears in discussions of social mobility and class markers: Her upper class speech gave her away at the factory job.
What counts as upper class speech varies by culture and era.
- poshStylishly luxurious
- refinedPurified or cultured
- aristocraticOf hereditary nobility
- old moneyLong-established family fortune
- high societyThe social elite
elocution · accent · eloquent · cultured · finishing school · enunciation · clipped · plummy · Oxford · Cambridge · public school · drawing room · etiquette · polished · BBC · Downton Abbey · Queen's English · affected
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