# UK show "Misfits" accent question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007 "2010-07-26T02:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/1 "2010-07-26T02:50:47Z")
So my friends and I are watching this fine fine show, and we have placed most of the accents, and we are still stuck on Kelly. A fine girl, if a bit rough, and clearly a bit Chav, but that’s ok. What I am trying to figure out is WHAT THE FUCK is her accent? Is that a scouse thing, or is it a stereotypical chav accent, or what not? The actress is originally from Derbyshire, but I have no idea where that is, and if that is a the stereotypical accent. Thanks all, you are most helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/2 "2010-07-26T19:02:26Z")
Anyone? Accent aside, it is a very clever show, and has sparked quite a bit of discussion. Just finished episode 6 last night, and HOLY CRAP kind of a dark ending for the first run. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/3 "2010-07-26T20:19:10Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > So my friends and I are watching this fine fine show, and we have placed most of the accents, and we are still stuck on Kelly. > > A fine girl, if a bit rough, and clearly a bit Chav, but that’s ok. > > What I am trying to figure out is WHAT THE FUCK is her accent? Is that a scouse thing, or is it a stereotypical chav accent, or what not? > > The actress is originally from Derbyshire, but I have no idea where that is, and if that is a the stereotypical accent. > > Thanks all, you are most helpful. It is a stereotypical chav, ‘White kid trying to sound black’ kind of accent. I hear a lot of it where I live (The Medway Towns, Kent, allegedly the birthplace of ‘chav cultcher’) and it is also prevalent in east London and south Essex. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/4 "2010-07-26T21:00:33Z")
I don’t watch the show, but from what I have seen on YouTube she does have an East Midlands accent (group of accents around Derby, Nottingham, Leicester). Her real-life accent seems to be stronger than in the show. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/5 "2010-07-26T21:09:15Z")
Here she is in real life (or “real lahf” as she calls it :D): [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6kkvZbp\_2A&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6kkvZbp_2A&feature=related) . Pretty strong Derby accent. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/6 "2010-07-26T23:12:01Z")
lol… thank you! I had always been under the impression that the Chav accent was an affectation, like White suburban kids suddently sounding like guest hosts on Yo! MTV Raps as soon as they get into the “scene”. I find her accent fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![snoopygal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@snoopygal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoopygal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/7 "2010-07-28T15:37:19Z")
‘Chav’ is mostly used as a way of insulting poor, uneducated people. It’s hilarious, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/8 "2010-07-28T21:14:08Z")
> [@snoopygal](#): > > ‘Chav’ is mostly used as a way of insulting poor, uneducated people. It’s hilarious, isn’t it? Huh. I was always under the impression that “Chav” meant a particular subculture in the UK. Granted, it draws from the less privledged, but poor !=Chav, and Chav != poor, I thought. Hmmmm ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/9 "2010-07-28T21:37:52Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > Huh. I was always under the impression that “Chav” meant a particular subculture in the UK. > > Granted, it draws from the less privledged, but poor !=Chav, and Chav != poor, I thought. Hmmmm To me it often seems to be applied as a derogatory term for people who live in social housing, or who have a certain accent, and by extension to “working class” people. The Scottish near-equivalent is “ned”. Your actual ned or chav is a street thug - underclass. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/10 "2010-07-28T22:31:35Z")
World class Babylon’s on that bird - is all I know. It’s not just the accent, doesn’t she have a small lispy-ish type defect as well? Quite an interesting show, very distinct. ---
**Author:** ![snoopygal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@snoopygal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoopygal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/11 "2010-07-29T14:15:09Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > World class Babylon’s on that bird - is all I know. It’s not just the accent, doesn’t she have a small lispy-ish type defect as well? > Quite an interesting show, very distinct. World class Babylon’s what? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/12 "2010-07-29T14:24:54Z")
Babylon’s = breasts. [QUOTE=snoopygal] ‘Chav’ is mostly used as a way of insulting poor, uneducated people. It’s hilarious, isn’t it? [/quote] Yeah, it used to refer to something specific. Now it’s used by snobs to refer to anybody who looks a little poor. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/13 "2010-08-01T01:27:34Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Yeah, it used to refer to something specific. Now it’s used by snobs to refer to anybody who looks a little poor. Yeah, it’s an unpleasant term. I’ve used it myself in the original sense but only among people who know what I mean - I wouldn’t use it in wider company, partly because if they agreed they might just be laughing at poor people. I’m glad I’m not the only one whose eyebrows raised when the OP used that term as if it was neutral, though I can understand why he did. There is also no ‘chav accent.’ ‘Chavs’ by any definition can come from anywhere in the country. I know what the OP means, though - [Estuary English.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English) this has become associated, in some people’s minds, with chavs and/or with posh people trying to sound less posh, but it’s also an actual dialect that people grow up with. Broadly speaking, it’s a mixture of Cockney and the various local accents of the home counties, especially South Essex and North Kent, which became a lot more prevalent after a lot of the bombed-out people from East and South-East London were rehoused in those parts of Kent and Essex. The original local accents have mostly died out now. People like Russel Brand get chastised for having a put-on Mockney (mock-Cockney) accent, but that’s just the way people talk where he grew up. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/14 "2010-08-01T08:05:27Z")
I always thought chav was just a more insulting way to say stuck-up jerk. And that it originally meant something like hipster, but, again was somewhat derogatory. Does it not just sound like a derogatory term, though? ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/15 "2010-08-01T14:37:54Z")
“Chav” is pretty much the exact opposite of “hipster”, **BigT**! It is meant to be derogatory, though. The best American translation is probably “trailer trash”, the sort of people you see on Jerry Springer–loudmouthed drunken scum who refuse to work and have litters of children to various fathers. It doesn’t refer to normal people who just happen to be poor, as others have claimed above. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/16 "2010-08-01T19:04:08Z")
> [@snoopygal](#): > > ‘Chav’ is mostly used as a way of insulting poor, uneducated people. It’s hilarious, isn’t it? Chavs aren’t poor. How would they pay for meat for the bull terrier, a hairy-sounding exhaust for the VW Golf hatchback and 4 inch hoop earrings for Chardonay? As for ‘uneducated’ - well, don’t uneducated people _deserve_ mockery?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/17 "2010-08-02T10:24:10Z")
Yep, by definition it’s judgemental and, at the same time, derogatory and snobbery. Says rather more about the person using it than those they intend to categorise. Last night’s took an unexpected bent. Offbeat show but I always look for it. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-show-misfits-accent-question/548007/18 "2010-08-02T17:00:38Z")
When I were young “chavvy” was used as a generic term, like mush or mate or duck or something along those lines. As for the girl there, strange accent. I’d expect something different from Derbyshire, although I myself am from Nottinghamshire. To me it sounds a bit estuary english/london chav, but I’m having trouble recognising the bits I hear in everyday conversation. I suppose to someone foreign, from somewhere like Suffolk, say, it’d sound like East Midlands.