- classnounChapter 1 →
A social group defined by shared economic status, background, and lifestyle. In this poem it refers specifically to the division between working-class and middle-class people in British society.
“How can you tell what class I'm from?”
- poshadjectiveChapter 1 →
A British informal word meaning upper- or middle-class in manner, accent, or appearance — the kind of refined style associated with wealth and privilege.
“I can talk posh like some, with an 'ow' instead of an 'a'.”
- talk poshphraseChapter 1 →
To deliberately adopt a refined, middle- or upper-class accent and way of speaking, imitating those considered socially superior.
“I can talk posh like some, with an 'ow' instead of an 'a'.”
- commonadjectiveChapter 1 →
Used as a social insult in British English to mean vulgar, low-class, or lacking refinement — the way snobbish people describe working-class speech or behaviour.
- MamnounChapter 1 →
A working-class and regional British word for 'mother,' used especially in northern England. Its use here marks the speaker's dialect and class background.
- elocutionnounChapter 1 →
Formal training in how to speak clearly and with a socially acceptable accent. Taking elocution lessons was historically a way for people to sound more middle-class.
- council housenounChapter 1 →
A home owned by the local government and rented at low cost to working-class families in Britain. Living in one is used here as a marker of working-class identity.
- chip-shopnounChapter 1 →
A British takeaway shop that sells fried fish and chips. Eating from one is stereotypically associated with working-class culture and is used here as a class marker.
- scrubbingverbChapter 1 →
Cleaning a surface by rubbing it hard, usually on hands and knees. Here it signals the physical, exhausting manual labour done by working-class women.
“My mum's got red raw hands from scrubbing floors — is that what gives me away?”
- red rawphraseChapter 1 →
Sore, chapped, and irritated from hard physical work — describing skin that has been rubbed so much it is painful and inflamed.
“My mum's got red raw hands from scrubbing floors — is that what gives me away?”
- gives me awayphraseChapter 1 →
Reveals or betrays something about a person that they did not openly state — here, accidentally exposing the speaker's working-class background to a judging observer.
“My mum's got red raw hands from scrubbing floors — is that what gives me away?”
- working classnounChapter 1 →
The social group made up of people who do manual or low-paid labour for a living. The speaker uses the term with pride rather than shame.
“I'm proud of where I come from — it's called the working class.”
- accentnounChapter 1 →
The distinctive way a person pronounces words, shaped by their regional and social background. In this poem it is one of the key signals others use to judge class.
- snobberynounChapter 1 →
The attitude of looking down on people considered socially inferior and judging them by superficial markers like accent or address. The poem treats it as a form of vulgarity.
- vulgaritynounChapter 1 →
Behaviour or attitudes considered crude and offensive. The poem turns the word back on the middle-class judge, arguing that snobbish prejudice is the real vulgarity.
The Class GameShort story by Mary Casey