So, what does “class” actually mean to you nowadays?

I tend to dismiss notions of class and think we are all equal- that is until I come across people who are very different from most of us, eg those whose unfortunate circumstances have led to them being unable to have a roof over their head, or have gone off the rails in some way, and at the other extreme, those whose lifestyle is beyond way anything most of us can ever envisage.
This boils down to money, I suppose, though there are other factors.

Real class has nothing to do with money. I have first hand knowledge of the appalling lack of class shown by extremely wealthy people. Snobbery and money (in many cases) go hand in hand.
People with real class display excellent manners and kindness towards their fellow human beings. No matter who they are or where they live.

I don’t think of class but I do think how unfair life can be depending upon where you are born, into which circumstances etc. And am afraid some of the uber rich can be incredibly tacky and lacking in social graces, so hardly classy, and I include Trump in that, the whole gold toilet debacle.

I think the class system has mostly fallen away now and a good thing too. Nobody is better than anyone else at birth only perhaps better off.
The divisions are mostly through wealth or lack of it so there are the super rich, the very well off, those who are comfortable and then those who struggle.
The old class system was far too divisive.

In the socio demographic sense? Nothing. Income is the only factor that matters.

Nothing really, and the only time I hear the word class is when the youngsters say it to mean the r

I agree with Dylis. I think manners, decency and kindness are good indicators of real class.
I have mixed with aristocracy - relatives who have married into it - and I found them dismissive. Sadly my accent didn't cut it. Flat vowel sounds to them denoted lack of class and education, even though I was better qualified than any of them. Not much kindness on display, despite the plummy accents.

I suppose we are all 'victims' of our upbringing and I think instinctively, looking in from the outside we can home in on people we'd probably get along with, and people we might give a wide berth. Having not long returned from holiday I'll admit to thinking, whilst waiting in the queue to board the plane home, " I do hope they're not sitting anywhere near us. "

I like to feel comfortable with people and that's probably a measure of my own comfort zone, rather than class. We all have our own standards and recognise them in others.

Like finds like, I suppose, so there are always going to be, if not social divides, then groups of people comfortable with each other. Those people can have mixed backgrounds but maybe similar sensibilities?

Nothing really, except when the youngsters say its class meaning they really like it

I think it’s how you come across. You can have people with money who have the morals of an alley cat.
I think there is a lot of classy grans on here that write very eloquently.

My DD is clearly middle class in that they have a mortgage on a very nice property in a good area in the south west of England. Both parents have careers, not jobs and their children go to good (though not private) schools. They can afford holidays and social activities including premier league season tickets, though they fall short of driving fancy cars.
My DS cannot afford to rent let alone get a mortgage, we live in an area where there is little aspiration and most people earn a little of minimum wage if indeed they are earning at all. He works all hours in his own business and drives a van that is always falling to bits but he cannot afford to replace.
The class difference in my children is stark and neither one can relate to the otherslife-style.
My DD does not understand that I can't afford the necessary new kitchen and bathroom, that I am now saving up for from my pension.
I think most people who think class is dead do not live near me in the still deprived areas of the north of England.
Those who think class is the way you treat people have this word confused with manners.
The difference in manners between the customers in my local Tesco and that of the customers in my DD's local Waitrose will tell you that they are not classy at all by that measurement. We avoid going there now due to the rampant rudeness of most of the customers, most of whom are elderly!

Class is like style, doesn’t matter how much money you have it’s impossible to buy.

You either have it or you don’t.

GrannyGravy13

Class is like style, doesn’t matter how much money you have it’s impossible to buy.

You either have it or you don’t.

That what my dear parents thought

Along with manners, respect and etiquette.

The one thing my DH thinks and says is that he is as good as anyone one else and always, without exception, treats people with respect and good manners.

Thanks for your interesting responses, and so sorry about my awful clanger with my spelling, of course it’s nouveau riche! How I long for an edit button ☹️☹️

I never define anyone by class, I hate it when someone is described by working, middle, upper class.
It makes me cringe, nearly as much as the word posh.

GrannyGravy13

Class is like style, doesn’t matter how much money you have it’s impossible to buy.

You either have it or you don’t.

👍👍 Absolutely this

GrannyGravy13

Class is like style, doesn’t matter how much money you have it’s impossible to buy.

You either have it or you don’t.

For me you hit the nail on the head.

Sago

I never define anyone by class, I hate it when someone is described by working, middle, upper class.
It makes me cringe, nearly as much as the word posh.

👏👏👏👏

Cossy

GrannyGravy13

Class is like style, doesn’t matter how much money you have it’s impossible to buy.

You either have it or you don’t.

That what my dear parents thought

Along with manners, respect and etiquette.

The one thing my DH thinks and says is that he is as good as anyone one else and always, without exception, treats people with respect and good manners.

Thanks for your interesting responses, and so sorry about my awful clanger with my spelling, of course it’s nouveau riche! How I long for an edit button ☹️☹️

Oh Cossy mine particularly my Father would say anyone discussing class, obviously didn’t have any 🙀

I think it is wishful thinking to deny the existence of class distinctions in this country. They aren’t defined by money, as in America. There are very rich pop singers and footballers who are far from upper class. It’s more to do with background, manners, education. Speech, too. I have often wondered if the way people speak is as significant in other countries.

“The way an Englishman speaks completely classifies him.
The moment he opens his mouth he makes some other Englishman despise him.”

That’s from My Fair Lady. “Despise” might be a bit strong nowadays, but there’s still a grain of truth in it.

I think in terms of definitions needed for social, planning, and political matters

it is in a process of change because of the huge changes in working patterns, earning abilities related to those changes, and huge factors like the numbers now going to uni,
how education is valued or viewed, how much people are aware of a larger social picture than a purely local one:

assumptions from one's upbringing dont shift that easily.

So we see changes in social habits and preferences, and is going to keep changing. What will happen with AI?

I'm sure statisticians/politicians have categories and advertisers too have ways of identifying specific groups. I just don't know what they are now.

For sure, it's not related as closely to income as it was when most of us were young.

People still do use words like "posh" where I live, most certainly, it means how you speak, how much education you have, how you present.

Being classy is not judging on peoples social status but seeing all as individuals with respect and curiosity

Until for me evidence arises to show they as individuals don't really care at all about issues like real deprivation, are willing to trample over others for self gain, will deliberately choose to be hurtful or "knife in the back" people and so on.

I think one aspect of "real class" is that someone who possesses it doesn't automatically dismiss those who have a different amount of money, power, taste, education, whatever, than they themselves do. This is true from both "above" and "below" them in traditional Two-Ronnies-class-sketch terms. I am thinking of two people I knew in particular. One was a warehouseman in a factory, with only mediocre education and no money, the other an ex-guards officer with a distinguished family tree and top social connections. They never met one another, but they would have got on very well if they had, because each would have regarded the other as an individual, not as a cliche to despise because their background was not the same. Each had "real class".

I used to treat anyone who spoke with a certain accent as posh, upper class but not rich as I knew quite a few who didn't have two pennies to rub together. Still kind of think like that, how people speak, present themself rather than on wealth.

GrannyGravy13

Class is like style, doesn’t matter how much money you have it’s impossible to buy.

You either have it or you don’t.

True, along with the ability to make others feel comfortable, welcomed and respected.

I tend to go for education more than anything else. Most of the people I get on well with seem to be well educated, but they all come from very different backgrounds and have very different lifestyles. When it comes to actual money I've usually found that old money families are much nicer than the nouveau riche. It seems to be the ones with new money who have a "Do you know who I am?" attitude.

Class for me is having a set of manners, integrity, responsibility, and trustworthiness. So, it is not how much you have been empire building but how much you have put into being authentic and modest.