More UK questions help request.

[Tomh1966]

THANK YOU ALL! I have a general direction now. Understand that I am making an OUTLINE.

Hopefully final question.

So I have Sir William 'Teddy' BEARington (THANKS Cumquat!) who is invited to a formal dinner in a manufacturers association for whatever group and bringing MC and his wife.

I want a stuck-up cunt bitch antagonist. Would the daughter of a Baron be titled on her own? I have this mental image of 'My father is a baron' bitch who says 'Do you know who my father is?' too much. She married some guy who is a wealthy commoner. She is physically attractive, but not as attractive as she thinks she is. She and her husband are both stuck-up assholes who think themselves better than they are. Let's say the husband owns a 50-employee company that makes widgets and he pulls in say 500K pounds a year. For sake of argument widgets does not equal butt plugs or something controversial.

Would 'the daughter of a baron' who married a wealthy commoner even be at such a formal dinner? Assume the group holding the dinner is related to the company the man owns. Would a 'daughter of a baron' even marry a wealthy commoner? Let's assume the father is a generic Baron who is not cousins with a duke or the mayor of Bristol anything. Just Baron Dooshbag of (nice but not an actual castle) Dooshbag Manor/summer house/ whatever.

 

[HordHolm]

And often it's a weird mix of shame and pride - pride that the child is the first in the family who'll have a degree, shame from the shaming of their peers who will start to think that the family thinks they're better than everyone else.

I think it depends a bit on the degree - a nursing degree, for instance, won't raise an eyebrow. Something in general IT and computing also, provided youngster doesn't present themselves as some kind of tech bro. Something that's an entry into teaching would probably be fine provided it isn't teaching something too high cultural or the like - so English, or PE, or Geography will just about be ok. But if the kid comes back with a History of Art degree and has wangled a job at a top end gallery (unlikely, I would agree), then yeah, there might be an element of, "oh, you think you're better than us, do you?"

 

[Bazzle]

THANK YOU ALL! I have a general direction now. Understand that I am making an OUTLINE.

Hopefully final question.

So I have Sir William 'Teddy' BEARington (THANKS Cumquat!) who is invited to a formal dinner in a manufacturers association for whatever group and bringing MC and his wife.

I want a stuck-up cunt bitch antagonist. Would the daughter of a Baron be titled on her own? I have this mental image of 'My father is a baron' bitch who says 'Do you know who my father is?' too much. She married some guy who is a wealthy commoner. She is physically attractive, but not as attractive as she thinks she is. She and her husband are both stuck-up assholes who think themselves better than they are. Let's say the husband owns a 50-employee company that makes widgets and he pulls in say 500K pounds a year. For sake of argument widgets does not equal butt plugs or something controversial.

Would 'the daughter of a baron' who married a wealthy commoner even be at such a formal dinner? Assume the group holding the dinner is related to the company the man owns. Would a 'daughter of a baron' even marry a wealthy commoner? Let's assume the father is a generic Baron who is not cousins with a duke or the mayor of Bristol anything. Just Baron Dooshbag of (nice but not an actual castle) Dooshbag Manor/summer house/ whatever.

She would spend hours getting her hair and nails done every 5 minutes?

 

[HordHolm]

THANK YOU ALL! I have a general direction now. Understand that I am making an OUTLINE.

Hopefully final question.

So I have Sir William 'Teddy' BEARington (THANKS Cumquat!) who is invited to a formal dinner in a manufacturers association for whatever group and bringing MC and his wife.

I want a stuck-up cunt bitch antagonist. Would the daughter of a Baron be titled on her own? I have this mental image of 'My father is a baron' bitch who says 'Do you know who my father is?' too much. She married some guy who is a wealthy commoner. She is physically attractive, but not as attractive as she thinks she is. She and her husband are both stuck-up assholes who think themselves better than they are. Let's say the husband owns a 50-employee company that makes widgets and he pulls in say 500K pounds a year. For sake of argument widgets does not equal butt plugs or something controversial.

Would 'the daughter of a baron' who married a wealthy commoner even be at such a formal dinner? Assume the group holding the dinner is related to the company the man owns. Would a 'daughter of a baron' even marry a wealthy commoner? Let's assume the father is a generic Baron who is not cousins with a duke or the mayor of Bristol anything. Just Baron Dooshbag of (nice but not an actual castle) Dooshbag Manor/summer house/ whatever.

The daughter would be entitled to be addressed as the Honourable Stuck-up Cunt Bitch, I believe, though she wouldn't have a title in her own right, per se. I believe that is correct but I may be corrected.

She might well be in attendance at any kind of formal event, though he attitude towards he fellow diners might be 'snooty' if you want her stuck up. And she could easily marry for money, very, very easily.

 

[onehitwanda]

Cumquat

and he pulls in say 500K pounds a year.

Yeah... you're really not getting British culture.

Why is it necessary for the antagonist to be the daughter of a Baron? She could just be some posh bint whose dad was a professional footballer or something. Someone who goes around "Do you know who my dad is" is not going to be the daughter of a Baron, because in non-polite society letting that slip would get her ostracised at best and probably punched at worst. In polite society, everyone would know who she was anyway!

 

[Tomh1966]

>Yeah... you're really not getting British culture.

Why is it necessary for the antagonist to be the daughter of a Baron? She could just be some posh bint whose dad was a professional footballer or something. Someone who goes around "Do you know who my dad is" is not going to be the daughter of a Baron, because in non-polite society letting that slip would get her ostracised at best and probably punched at worst. In polite society, everyone would know who she was anyway!<

Which is why I ask these questions. Mucho thanks. The US and UK are SO SIMILAR!!!! (Until they arent!) Perceptions lie.

I'm trying!







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[HordHolm]

Yeah... you're really not getting British culture.

Why is it necessary for the antagonist to be the daughter of a Baron? She could just be some posh bint whose dad was a professional footballer or something. Someone who goes around "Do you know who my dad is" is not going to be the daughter of a Baron, because in non-polite society letting that slip would get her ostracised at best and probably punched at worst. In polite society, everyone would know who she was anyway!

Although... if Daddy got his Lordship for life rather than inherited it.. as in, he got it for political reasons so the government would have another vote in the House of Lords from a loyal businessman and supporter who is actually straight middle-class, self-made, etc, etc, then she might feel the need to stand on ceremony, because once Daddy snuffs it, all that good stuff will disappear.

 

[onehitwanda]

Although... if Daddy got his Lordship for life rather than inherited it.. as in, he got it for political reasons so the government would have another vote from a loyal businessman and supporter who is actually straight middle-class, self-made, etc, etc, then she might feel the need to stand on ceremony, because once Daddy snuffs it, all that good stuff will disappear.

This is an edge case that I wouldn't even touch and I'm at least passingly familiar with the weirdness of our culture after naturalising here. I'd personally choose the stuck-up-daughter-of-a-celebrity route.

@Tomh1966 let me put it another way - unless there's some critical plot point that is absolutely dependent on this antagonist being a Baron's daughter, I'd recommend you make her an uppity upper-middle-class social climber instead. It's a lot less complicated and it will spare you eyerolls from the Brit readership

 

[HordHolm]

This is an edge case that I wouldn't even touch and I'm at least passingly familiar with the weirdness of our culture after naturalising here. I'd personally choose the stuck-up-daughter-of-a-celebrity route.

@Tomh1966 let me put it another way - unless there's some critical plot point that is absolutely dependent on this antagonist being a Baron's daughter, I'd recommend you make her an uppity upper-middle-class social climber instead. It's a lot less complicated and it will spare you eyerolls from the Brit readership

If OP really wants to give it an edge, make her the daughter of a crime family who earned enough to put her through a posh school. Then she would always have that sense of not belonging that might make her repeat, ad nauseum, that she deserved to be wherever she happens to be now.

 

[HordHolm]

>Yeah... you're really not getting British culture.

Why is it necessary for the antagonist to be the daughter of a Baron? She could just be some posh bint whose dad was a professional footballer or something. Someone who goes around "Do you know who my dad is" is not going to be the daughter of a Baron, because in non-polite society letting that slip would get her ostracised at best and probably punched at worst. In polite society, everyone would know who she was anyway!<

Which is why I ask these questions. Mucho thanks. The US and UK are SO SIMILAR!!!! (Until they arent!) Perceptions lie.

I'm trying!







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Report

An alternative route you might consider re: Ms Stuck Up, is that she perhaps previously went to school/university with someone in Sir William's group, e.g. wife, sister, etc, and they have prior dislikes for each other - or at least, she doesn't like the Bearington family.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

If she's an uppity stuck-up type, she's just a middle-class social climber. New money. Frightfully nouveau, darling. Which works fine for daddy having made a successful business and having upper-middle wealth which she can expect to inherit. He can even have a knighthood (Sir) for Services to Industry, but she gets no title.

Manufacturing association dinners will be dripping with middle-class wealth and booze, but while people will be showing off their posh frocks, they're hardly Jane Austen type events where people get Announced. For a plot, daughter can be looking at some guy and gets into competition with another girl.

Dad's money and power as the head of the association will be important, not any Sir.

 

[StillStunned]

In the first Flashman novel, he describes his family's "not-quite-it" nabob status as "You could always smell the manure under the rosebush."

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I want a stuck-up cunt bitch antagonist. Would the daughter of a Baron be titled on her own?

No.

I have this mental image of 'My father is a baron' bitch who says 'Do you know who my father is?' too much. She married some guy who is a wealthy commoner. She is physically attractive, but not as attractive as she thinks she is. She and her husband are both stuck-up assholes who think themselves better than they are. Let's say the husband owns a 50-employee company that makes widgets and he pulls in say 500K pounds a year. For sake of argument widgets does not equal butt plugs or something controversial.

Oodles of them exist, but no-one will give a shit about daddy's knighthood, only that he's the owner of Bearington Ltd.

Would 'the daughter of a baron' who married a wealthy commoner even be at such a formal dinner? Assume the group holding the dinner is related to the company the man owns.

Manufacturing dinners really aren't exclusive (I've been to enough of them). They look expensive, yes.

Would a 'daughter of a baron' even marry a wealthy commoner?

She is a commoner! And hell yes.

Let's assume the father is a generic Baron who is not cousins with a duke or the mayor of Bristol anything. Just Baron Dooshbag of (nice but not an actual castle) Dooshbag Manor/summer house/ whatever.

No, just no. Just bog-standard Sir Bill with his nice town house and a place in the country, a few millions, and you're set.

 

[Tomh1966]

Like I said... outline. Got it. NOT a daughter of a baron. I will figure out the celebrity angle. Outline stage ATM. Probably a hard fallen has been from the 1980s or 1990s who bought a business that did well enough.

For fun and even more of a reason for snooty bitch to look down on Sir William and his wife not yet named... She would be 18 around 2010-2012. I havent nailed down dates yet.
Maybe Mrs Bearington is a former page 3 girl!

I amuse me. (And probably no one else)

When I was a kid, I found out a classmate's mom was a Playboy Playmate in the 1960s. They had 3 or 4 kids and as far as I know, they were typical people. IE not swingers etc. The mom was very nice, down to earth, and no, she did not advertise her past. I found out from a friend. My point is Mrs Bearington would not be Samantha Fox, but some girl who appeared a half dozen times blah blah blah.

 

[ElectricBlue]

>Yeah... you're really not getting British culture.

Which is why I ask these questions. Mucho thanks. The US and UK are SO SIMILAR!!!! (Until they arent!) Perceptions lie.

I'm trying!

My advice, having read this thread is: if you don't know the milieu yourself, don't even try to portray. It will come across as "all wrong", especially to Brits who do know.

Sir Bearington? Really? It sounds like you're writing about Paddington Bear wearing a top hat. You'll have the Fat Controller eating marmalade sandwiches next.

This is a case of "Write what you know," if ever I've seen one!

 

[MajorRewrite]

She could just be some posh bint

Bint is an excellent word that we don’t use in the US. Bint. So short and pointed.

Is it strictly a UK thing or do the Aussies, Kiwis and other odd English-speaking types use it too?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Bint is an excellent word that we don’t use in the US. Bint. So short and pointed.

Is it strictly a UK thing or do the Aussies, Kiwis and other odd English-speaking types use it too?

On occasion, but mostly when citing the line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king.

Dennis: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Arthur: Be quiet!

Dennis: You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!

Arthur: Shut up!

Dennis: I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!

 

[geronimo_appleby]

there seems to be a fixation with UK being england. it's not. what about wales, scotland, and NI?

there's a lot of potential in using welsh names, posh jocks [as in scots] who often have very english accents, and the belfast accent. there's niothing quite like being harangued and spat at by an angry belfast housewife with republican leanings.

anywa, i would also suggest to avoid overthinking details and write the story.