If you have an accent, I can tell where you’re from or where you’ve lived. If your speech is highly refined and your vocabulary complex, I can tell you’ve been buffed by your parents or your education to a gleaming shine. And probably you like to read quite a bit.
In the UK especially, the way you speak is a powerful indicator of your social standing. This is where the weirder your accent sounds, the posher you are. (Say this slowly – air hair lair and then you’ll see what I mean. Translated this is supposed to sound like “Oh, hi.”)
But it’s not just the way you speak. It’s where you choose to shop.
Are you a staunch patron of Waitrose? A middle of the road Sainsbury’s kind of Jamie Olivier luvly jubbly guy? Or a chirpy chipper chunky mum who loves Somerfields?
What about the stuff you buy in these shops? Bonnie Prince Charlie Duchy Originals biscuits for cheese? Carrs water crackers? Crisps?
Surely identifying a person’s character by this kind of evidence is inaccurate and frankly appalling. Right?
Hmmm. I’m about to show you how it goes even deeper than this.
It’s not about the way you speak. It’s not about the places you buy your food. It’s not even about the food you buy.
It’s how you identify with it. continue reading…
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