following on from another post and a comment made about people with tattoos being chavs (thanks DF3 ), It made me start thinking what constitutes a chav? I mean most of us can spot them when we see them, but is there a series of definitive characteristics? or are there degrees of chav-ness?
Surely none of us here could be included?
but funnily enough - Wikipedia (who's word of course is gospel ) says "The stereo type of a chav includes wearing branded designer sportswear. Stereotypical attire might be accompanied by some form of gold jewellery, otherwise termed 'bling' "
Hmm - sounds like a load of runners after finishing a race (branded sportswear, medal. . . .)
so is it attitude? IQ? clothing? or a whole smorgasbord of stuff?
Comments
we don't have chavs. we have neds
it is all of those things but chiefly a complete disregard for societal norms of behaviour. they are like modern-day outlaws
I was in a sports shop the other day and two neds came in. I was queuing quietly to buy socks and had been gazing at a pogo stick near the till. Of course one of the neds immediately leapt on it and started boinging around the shop, knocking boxes flying and causing general mayhem.
I'll wager that he was doing what deep down I and the other people in the queue would probably have wanted to do, were we not tied down by normal standards of protocol. In short, he didn't care what anyone thought, he did what he wanted. Part of me wishes that was me. Most of me doesn't though.
I think some people here think a chav is anyone who is working class and/or a teenager. My definition would be a little more specific but to be honest it's been done to death.
Ah, that'll be scotland then?
itsnt that scottish slang for 'hooligan' or something?
non-educated delinquent
interesting where the term comes from, apparantly it comes from the romany for 'child'? (chavi). not sure if thats true but most of them seems to act like 2 year olds
nice one!
Someone who messes about with Play Stations ?
Dunno, Gypsies are a different thing altogether surely? chavs tend to be more urban and affiliated to lonsdale?
I know a couple of university graduates who might disagree with you
Or was that a reference to the Playstation 4 thread!
For me it's a way of supercilious people to define those they think are beneath them. Horrible word.
Council House And Violent
Just one definition I heard somewhere.
🙂
'for' I meant, not 'of'...
agree
I just think it is a word that people use about other people they think are beneath them - growing up they would have been skins, mods or punks.
I agree with Peter Collins too. I don't use that word because I think it's a way of sneering at a whole group of people. When I was at school we had words for different groups which could be loosely mapped onto social class but were mainly related to fashion and music preferences (the nearest equivalent for the branded-sportswear wearers was 'townie', as contrasted with 'grungers' who were more alternative). There wasn't that horrible class-based snobbery that you get with the word 'chav'. Yuck.
According to Plan B, we should not use the term 'Chav' and apparently it is usage of this word that started the riots 2 Augusts ago.........Yeah, right - whatever!
I thought the riots were started by groups of kids who think they are entitled to a living and think it's ok to steal, inflict violence and generally engage in anti social behaviour......
I don't think anyone thinks that, Beth. It's just that I think the use of the word 'chav' says more about the person saying it than about the object(s) of their abuse.
I don't use the word "chav". The world "moron" is sufficient and doesn't differentiate between class, age, race, or gender.
the people commonly described as "chavs" have been around much longer than the term has been in popular use. The media love a label to attach to people, and it's a handy category to lump people into so we can demonise them and feel better about ourselves by comparison.
Britons seem to be obsessed with social stratification. I've heard people who I would consider to be part of a social underclass using the term "chav" to refer to others, so clearly there is a degree of subjectivity in the application. I'm sure prince philip thinks anyone who has to wipe their own arse is a fucking chav, so no matter who you are, there's always someone looking down on you.
twat
Play nicely now boys....
Sorry Miss