WQhen does 'teasing' by your manager go too far?

wigglebeena

Southerners, they all think they talk posh even if they're rough as a bear's bum.

Savvy_Sue

I don't think I talk posh, but I know I talk proper. :rotfl: Although slightly corrupted by 3 years in Durham and now 10 years in Brizzle, which I can't really speke krekly. Undertones of a good cockney glottal stop break through at regular intervals, however. :rotfl:

To the OP, maybe that's just his telephone voice? My mother used to have one, phoning my dad at work via the switchboard you would hear a very posh "Oh, good afternoon, may I speak to Mr ... please?", and then a couple of seconds later "Oh, 'allo, 's me, 'ow are you?"

vet8

Magnolia wrote: »

You could try a 'Cor bleeding ell anje' (al a eastenders) 'or whatever it is you soft southern shandy drinkers say'

Shandy drinkers , cheek!! :mad: I like a good pint of real ale.:beer::beer:

maninthestreet

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I don't think I talk posh, but I know I talk proper. :rotfl: Although slightly corrupted by 3 years in Durham and now 10 years in Brizzle, which I can't really speke krekly. Undertones of a good cockney glottal stop break through at regular intervals, however. :rotfl:

To the OP, maybe that's just his telephone voice? My mother used to have one, phoning my dad at work via the switchboard you would hear a very posh "Oh, good afternoon, may I speak to Mr ... please?", and then a couple of seconds later "Oh, 'allo, 's me, 'ow are you?"

Krek Brizzle!!

bristol_pilot

You should make it absolutely clear - in case it hasn't sunk in yet - that these comments are not welcome. By make it clear I don't mean drop hints, talk back in cockney etc I mean absolutely spell it out. If it then continues, put in a formal written complaint to HR regarding the manager's unprofessional and buyllying behaviour. Then stick to your guns. Chances are he will be sacked.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Having grown up in total poverty in London, with a Belgian/Harrogate Grandmother, a Grandfather from Camden, my mother grew up in the Home Counties, my father from Edinburgh, and friends from almost every community in the area, I was blessed(?) with the ability to switch accent at the drop of a hat (or an aitch).

At times of stress, I can have five accents in one sentence. I can mumble along in about 7 languages as well, so some words come out in totally the wrong pronounciation, as I automatically go to the language the word is rooted in - 'Apfel Pudden, anyone? Nah? Ach, you ent gettun anyfink until you have finished tidying t'pit you call a bedroom.'

Even so, I have found some accents to be completely impenetrable to me. I have worked in the NHS and have had no trouble understanding Sri Lankan Sinhalese accents, but I have had so much difficulty with Tamil. I can usually understand people whose first language is Urdu or Arabic, but have to really listen to Gujarati speakers. Same goes with Ghanian or Nigerian compared to Kenyan. And the phone makes it even harder, as I can't take advantage of lip reading or other visual cues.

I'm not saying this is the case for the berk you are dealing with on the phone, but he could be trying to cover for genuinely not being able to understand (or, indeed, for going deaf) with bombast and general idiocy.

Savvy_Sue

JoJo MAY be making a valid point - when your hearing starts to go then using the telephone can become more and more difficult. I have (honestly) had to get a true Bristolian to listen to an answerphone message left in krek Brizzle, because I just could not make any sense of it.

so another approach might be "Do you have problems understanding me when we speak on the phone, sir? No? Because I thought maybe your continual references to my accent might be intended to subtly let me know that you were having problems. Since you aren't, could we please get on with the job in hand, because I find your pale imitations of the real thing distinctly irritating."

Or something like that.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Well, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Wouldn't be the first time!!!!

avstar

Thanks for all the replies and advice everyone, much appreciated.

I don't think my manager has a hearing problem or is struggling to understand me because once we have the initial mickey take routine out of the way we then have a normal conversation, and I don't have to modify how I speak. My accent isn't even that strong...I think he's not used to dealing with Northerners that's all, our industry is very London centred. He genuinely seems to think it's funny and will think I'm a miserable cow if I don't go along with the 'joke'. :mad:

Thanks for all your funny replies, they really did cheer me up, I will try and remember that feeling when I'm getting cranked up. You guys also confirmed my thoughts that I'm not over-reacting, if I don't find it funny and it's upsetting me then it has def gone too far.

Over the next week or so I'm going to try just being silent until he runs out of steam, leaving a large uncomfortable silence for good measure and then say something along the lines of "right then, down to work". I will keep a record of all this too.

If that doesn't calm it down then nothing will and I'll have to go further. I will tell him I'm not finding it funny. If he carries on or makes life awkward then I#ll write to HR. I'm hoping and praying it doesn't get to this level tho as I don't want to rock the boat in the current climate. How dreadful that I fear for my job so much at the moment I don't want to speak out about something like this.

pinkshoes

Next time he does it, I would say either:

"given you mention my accent EVERY time I phone you, I'm beginning to think you really like it".

or

"Repeating the same thing over and over is a sign of old age. Perhaps you'd better get yourself checked out?"

or

"As you're having such difficulty with my accent, perhaps you'd like me to have a word with your boss so you can go on a special 'understanding yorkshire' training day?"