From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Description for politically active middle class
The
chattering classes
is a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the "metropolitan
middle class
",
[1]
especially those with political, media, and academic connections. It is a generally derogatory term,
[1]
often used by
pundits
and political commentators.
United Kingdom
[
edit
]
It is sometimes used to refer to a
liberal elite
, but its first use by British journalist
Frank Johnson
in 1980 appeared to include a wider range of pundits.
[1]
Indeed, the term is used by people all across the political spectrum to refer to the journalists and political operatives who see themselves as the arbiters of
conventional wisdom
.
[2]
As such, the notion of "chattering classes" can be seen as an
antonym
to the older idea of an unrepresented
silent majority
, made notable by the U.S. Republican Party President
Richard Nixon
.
United States
[
edit
]
In the
United States
, the term has come to be used by both the
left
and
right
and to describe political opponents, with Stephen Perrault of the
Merriam-Webster
dictionary suggesting that the term has "connotations of idleness, of useless talk, that the noun 'chatter' does. ... These people don't amount to much?they like to hear themselves talk."
[3]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Chattering Classes
, 2006
Oxford English Dictionary
- ^
See, for example,
Walter Gretzky's honour
,
The Globe and Mail
, December 29, 2007, p. A20
- ^
Kornblut, Anne E.
The Peculiar Power of the Chattering Class
,
The New York Times
. April 2, 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
External links
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Theories
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Related
topics
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By status
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By "
collar
"
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By type
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