What does 'effortlessly middle class' mean?

Do you have to actually try to be any particular class?

To me, it implies that others make great efforts to appear 'middle class' - when they're certainly not. So, a compliment, if middle class is seen as a good thing.

My father (upper class) said that he instantly became working class - when he worked - 'By definition, if you have to work, you're working class, there is no middle class'. So, an insult, or joke, to him.

When John Prescott said "We're all middle class now" I assumed I was with no effort whatsoever in my part ?

However, it's not true because he's gone up a notch and is a Lord and my family is still working.

It all depends upon who said it. Another teacher said that her family (working class) really admired her career. Mine were openly disappointed that I was 'only a teacher'.

What it means is the person saying it is class conscious and rather a snob.

Class is just another way of the government dividing the electorate ,the Two Ronnies "class" skit on TV in the 70's was hilarious but sadly how many folk think ,more now than then.The rot starts at the top with royalty and the "honours" system all an artificial way of dividing the nation .I cant abide the so called socialist who accept Empire medals and enter the lords earning more for ONE day than many of their constituents would have earned for a month...its GREED

We all allocate ourselves into different perceived classes. The government doesn't decide it! The honours system is something else altogether.

Blossoming hit the nail on the head.

The opposite of Hyacinth Bucket?

paddyann54

Class is just another way of the government dividing the electorate ,the Two Ronnies "class" skit on TV in the 70's was hilarious but sadly how many folk think ,more now than then.The rot starts at the top with royalty and the "honours" system all an artificial way of dividing the nation .I cant abide the so called socialist who accept Empire medals and enter the lords earning more for ONE day than many of their constituents would have earned for a month...its GREED

I don't think politics and class are linked in that way, paddyann. The political system meeds an overhaul, for sure; but I don't blame people for working within it as it stands until that happens. If they didn't, the HOL, which is the only balance against a government elected by a FPTP system, would be made up exclusively of hereditary peers.

I also think that there should be a way for 'ordinary' people to be recognised for achievement, and the honours system goes some way towards doing that. Again, if not for there would be even less representation for sport, the Arts and so on.

So-called 'champagne socialists' don't upset me either. Wanting a fairer system is not, IMO, incompatible with having a few quid of one's own. Should 'the workers' only have other workers in their corner? That would embed inequality even more. I think the idea that people shouldn't 'get above themselves' is outdated and narrow-minded. You hear it all the time about Keir Starmer, who is resented by some for his knighthood and for the fact that his legal expertise (as opposed to a trust fund) has bought him a comfortable life. As someone who has 'worked his way up' from an ordinary background he has for more idea about how people live than the Etonians in government.

Without the need to show off, it means to me anyway.

There are very few well-bred and well-heeled people around.
Well-heeled maybe but by no means well-bred.

The aspiring classes apparently make an effort to use a napkin rather than a serviette, to say ‘what’ instead of ‘pardon’, to sit on a sofa in the sitting room or, worse still, the drawing room instead of the lounge. Whereas effortlessly middle class do it all effortlessly including going to the loo and not the toilet without much effort.
So in conclusion more Imodium needed for the effortlessly middle class.

It appears to me rather like an insult from an upper class or aristocratic person inferring that someone of their own class naturally has (lower) middle class tastes.

Whether it is intended as an insult or a compliment depends on the person who said it, but it is clearly someone who feels they are in a position to judge.

LauraNorderr, they are often called ‘serve you rights’ in this house ?

To me it means being comfortable in your own skin, not putting on an act .
(This applies to anyone, anywhere)

Exactly right GrannyGravy!
I'd love to post a link to the John Betjamin poem about class. ' How to get on in society'
'Send for the fish knives Norman...'

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EllanVannin

There are very few well-bred and well-heeled people around.
Well-heeled maybe but by no means well-bred.

That sounds as if you think being “well bred” is something to be admired, rather than the result of fate / being born into a class that can afford private education, nannies, etc ?

A person born into a working class family, who makes the most of their potential / gets on well in life / enjoys happy relationships, is surely to be admired more?

I can’t give an example of someone who is “effortlessly middle class” but I can give an example of someone who is upper class with great effort because his upper class persona is without any roots. His personality is built on a myth which is why he is so weird.

That person is Jacob Rees Mogg.

Jonathan Truman.

Oh! I know someone who is effortlessly middle class

Monty Don

So cool?

To be called effortlessly middle class is surely an insult?

I've never thought of Monty Don as being any particular class. On thinking about it it's not something I think about anyone. People are just people.