U and Non-U Revisited

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In 1956 a little book edited by the late Nancy Mitford and called Noblesse Oblige hit the world like a bombshell. Profiting from the researches of the philologist, Prof Alan C Ross, who had coined the expressions ‘U’ and ‘non-U’ – that is ‘Upper-class’ and ‘non-Upper-class’ – she set about telling the man in the street just how common he was. Overnight, aristocrats who had spoken and behaved in a certain way from the cradle upwards found themselves giggling self-consciously when they offered each other ‘a glass of sherry’ as they always done, instead of ‘a sherry’ as they were now told the vulgar did. At the same time, the lower-middle-class people, who had always thought they were living graciously when they said ‘Pardon?’ instead of ‘What?’ or, on greeting a stranger, ‘Pleased to meet you’, learned that they were being ‘genteel’, which their betters considered the most ludicrous of all. In the present book, Professor Ross has brought his lists of U and non-U words, expressions and pronunciations up-to-date. He takes part in a discussion with Philip Howard, erudite contributor to The Times, and with Richard Buckle, a self-confessed ballet critic, an exhibition designer, and the author of Nijinsky and other books. Mr Buckle, who edits the present volume, also contributes a pitiless expose of his own blighted life.