--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I just wanted to be an ordinary…" description: "\"I just wanted to be an ordinary, middle-class person. When I was at Cambridge, I made great efforts to lose the last remnants of my Cockney accent.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/peter-ackroyd-2223_accents_i-just-wanted-to-be-an-ordinary-middle-c_2521605.jpg" --- # I just wanted to be an ordinary, middle-class person. When… ![“I just wanted to be an ordinary, middle-class person. When I was at Cambridge, I made great efforts to lose the last remnants of my Cockney accent.” quote by Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/peter-ackroyd-2223_accents_i-just-wanted-to-be-an-ordinary-middle-c_2521605.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/peter-ackroyd-2223_accents_i-just-wanted-to-be-an-ordinary-middle-c_2521605.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/peter-ackroyd-2223_accents_i-just-wanted-to-be-an-ordinary-middle-c_2521605.jpg) > “I just wanted to be an ordinary, middle-class person. When I was at Cambridge, I made great efforts to lose the last remnants of my Cockney accent.” [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire for social mobility leads to shedding regional accents to fit elite norms. **In simple terms:** Want to fit in by losing accent. Key Takeaway Accept yourself while adapting. Themes identity class language Mood conflicted aspirational Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - job interviews - new social circles - education settings Key Concepts sociolinguistics social mobility Questions to Reflect On - Why do you want to change your speech? - What does “ordinary” mean to you? A Different Perspective Accent loss may cause identity conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accents/) [Cambridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cambridge/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Cockney Accent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cockney-accent-1255016/) [Cockneys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cockneys/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Ordinary Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-middle-1255015/) [Person Cambridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-cambridge-1255017/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Remnants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remnants/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) ## Related quotes > [I actually had a cockney accent before I went to drama school. 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They nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/my-parents-were-hippies-and-the-story-is-that-they-went-through-a/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [It was great to play an ex-marine cockney thug. All my roles are as different as the colours of the rainbow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-treadaway/it-was-great-to-play-an-ex-marine-cockney-thug-all-my-roles-are-as/) [Luke Treadaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-treadaway/) > [We must grow out of religion. It is either bugaboo, formalism, or hysteria. Besides, what proof is there that "the churches" know more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-aldington/we-must-grow-out-of-religion-it-is-either-bugaboo-formalism-or/) [Richard Aldington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-aldington/) > [Lots of middle class people are running around pretending to be Cockney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-eccleston/lots-of-middle-class-people-are-running-around-pretending-to-be/) [Christopher Eccleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-eccleston/) ## More by Peter Ackroyd > [If I did only one thing at a time I'd think I was wasting my time. If, for example, I only wrote novels I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/if-i-did-only-one-thing-at-a-time-i-d-think-i-was-wasting-my-time-if/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [I believe that the gods themselves are frightened of the world which they have fashioned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-believe-that-the-gods-themselves-are-frightened-of-the-world-which/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“A woman is a deep Ditch, said he, her House inclines to Death and her Paths unto the Devil”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/a-woman-is-a-deep-ditch-said-he-her-house-inclines-to-death-and-her/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [I don't know if I have a voice of my own. I don't see me being an important person with something to say. 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You could sum it up in a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-don-t-find-myself-interesting-as-a-person-and-the-details-i-find/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [Rioting has always been a London tradition. It has been since the early Middle Ages. There's hardly a spate of years that goes by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/rioting-has-always-been-a-london-tradition-it-has-been-since-the/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“absinthe removes the bitter taste of failure and grants me strange visions which are charming principally because they cannot be written down. Only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/absinthe-removes-the-bitter-taste-of-failure-and-grants-me-strange/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“Those in their snug Bed-chambers may call the Fears of Night meer Bugbears, but their Minds have not pierced into the Horror of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/those-in-their-snug-bed-chambers-may-call-the-fears-of-night-meer/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [In so far as I have any beliefs, I suppose I'm like that old Peggy Lee song, 'Is That All There Is?' I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/in-so-far-as-i-have-any-beliefs-i-suppose-i-m-like-that-old-peggy-lee/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“dyer. (Looking at him scornfully) So that is why Wits swarm like Egypt's Frogs. 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It stains the spirit, forestalls hope, and destroys any motive for action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/there-is-no-humiliation-worse-than-the-consciousness-of-a-wasted-life/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) [Explore all 178 Peter Ackroyd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) ## More Accents quotes > [When we first sold the Wallace and Gromit shorts to America, people suggested we get rid of the strange British accents and put clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-park/when-we-first-sold-the-wallace-and-gromit-shorts-to-america-people/) [Nick Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-park/) > [“It's not my accent, but my brevity makes me stylish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/it-s-not-my-accent-but-my-brevity-makes-me-stylish/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [London, from the architecture to the culture to the fashion to the accents, feels like it's a special place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/london-from-the-architecture-to-the-culture-to-the-fashion-to-the/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [You can't live in a dialect without tremendous work. 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And even with the accents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-stevenson/i-don-t-think-you-see-a-pirate-with-a-parrot-on-his-shoulder-for/) [Ray Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-stevenson/) > [I'm a Yente and I have a terrible accent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-samuels/i-m-a-yente-and-i-have-a-terrible-accent/) [Lynn Samuels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-samuels/) > [In bed watching Family Guy. Love this show.! So hilarious! Stewie is my favorite :) love his accent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paris-hilton/in-bed-watching-family-guy-love-this-show-so-hilarious-stewie-is-my/) [Paris Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paris-hilton/) > [American accents often sound much more confident than British ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-front/american-accents-often-sound-much-more-confident-than-british-ones/) [Rebecca Front](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-front/) > [At this point two elderly security guards in parkas, the guys who normally work the front desk at the plant, asked John to step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/at-this-point-two-elderly-security-guards-in-parkas-the-guys-who/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [Much of my playing is rhythmic and choppy; I use a lot of double stops. 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