The chattering classes is a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the "metropolitan
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
",
[''Chattering Classes''](_blank)
2006 Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
especially those with political, media, and academic connections. It is a generally derogatory term,
often used by
pundit
A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
s and political commentators.
United Kingdom
It is sometimes used to refer to a
liberal elite
Liberal elite, also referred to as the metropolitan elite or progressive elite, is a term used to describe politically liberal people whose education has traditionally opened the doors to affluence, wealth and power and who form a managerial elit ...
, but its first use by British journalist
Frank Johnson in 1980 appeared to include a wider range of pundits.
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
The conventional wisdom or received opinion is the body of ideas or explanations generally accepted by the public and/or by experts in a field.
History
The term "conventional wisdom" dates back to at least 1838, as a synonym for "commonplace kno ...
. As such, the notion of "chattering classes" can be seen as an
antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...
to the older idea of an unrepresented
silent majority
The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, "A ...
, made notable by the U.S. Republican Party President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
.
United States
In the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the term has come to be used by both the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
and
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
and to describe political opponents, with Stephen Perrault of the
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...
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."
[Kornblut, Anne E]
''The Peculiar Power of the Chattering Class''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
. April 2, 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
See also
*
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
*
Thought leader
A thought leader has been described as an individual or firm recognized as an authority in a specific field.
A thought leader is a person who specializes in a given area and whom others in that industry turn to for guidance. As the term implies, ...
References
External links
BBC wordhunt entryThe Guardian: How the chattering classes turned to talk
{{socio-stub
Political terminology
Political catchphrases
English phrases
Propaganda in the United States
1980 neologisms
Middle class culture
Class-related slurs