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Chav

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For a full discussion of the etymologies of chav and charva, see Wiktionary.
For a list of synonyms for chav and charva, see WikiSaurus under the headword chav.
Look up chav, charva in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Chav is a derogatory slang term in England which appeared in mainstream dictionaries in 2005<ref name="BBC-20050608">"'Asbo' and 'chav' make dictionary", BBC News, 2005-06-08. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.</ref><ref name="Telegraph-20050810">Tweedie, Neil. "Don't be a plank. Read this and get really clueful", The Telegraph, 2005-08-10. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.</ref> . The term “chav” refers to a subcultural stereotype fixated on fashions such as gold jewellery and designer clothing in the Burberry pattern (most famously a now-discontinued baseball cap) and from a variety of other casual and sportswear brands. Tracksuits, hoodies, jogging bottoms (known as sweatpants to some) and baseball caps are particularly associated with this stereotype. Musically, chavs tend to like rap, Garage, and R&B. Response to the term has ranged from amusement to criticism that it is a new manifestation of classism. The term has also been associated with delinquency, the "ASBO Generation", and "Yob culture".

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The accepted etymology for "chav" is that it derives from the Romani word "chavi", meaning a child. <ref name=quinion>Quinion, Michael. World Wide Words.</ref> Related words derived from the same source include "charva" (used in northern England in a similar sense) and perhaps the obsolescent "young shaver" (meaning a boy). In modern Spanish "chaval" means "lad". <ref>[1]</ref> There are a large number of synonyms and regional variations of "chav", including "scally", "townie", "ned", kev and "Mallie".<ref name=WotM>Word of the Month. Oxford Teachers' Club. Retrieved on 2006-01-19.</ref>

Many folk etymologies have sprung up around the word. These include backronyms such as "Council Housed And Violent"<ref name="webchat">Anoop Nayak and Steve Drayton. To charv or not to charver - that is the question. Inside Out - North East. BBC. Retrieved on 2006-01-19, 2005-02-21.</ref> and "Council House Associated Vermin". It has also been suggested that pupils at Cheltenham Ladies College and Cheltenham College used the word to describe the younger men of the town ("Cheltenham Average").<ref>Tweedie, Neil. "Cheltenham ladies and the chavs", Daily Telegraph, 2004-12-13.</ref>.

From its origins as a slang term, use of the word spread so rapidly that by 2004 it had become a hugely popular word in national newspapers and common parlance in the UK. Susie Dent's Larpers and Shroomers: The Language Report, published by the Oxford University Press, designated it as the "word of the year"<ref>missingauthor. "missingtitle", missignwork, missingpublisher, missingdate.</ref> in 2004. <ref name="larpers">AskOxford: Larpers and Shroomers: the Language Report. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2006-03-04.</ref> A survey in 2005 found that in December 2004 alone 114 British newspaper articles used the word. The popularity of the word has led to the creation of sites devoted to cataloguing and mocking the "chav" lifestyle.<ref> ChavScum</ref><ref>ChavTowns</ref>

[edit] Derived Words

  • Chavtastic: Related to chavs
  • Chavmobile (or "chavrolet"): A car which has been pointlessly modified with only cosmetic issues in mind
  • Chavette: Female chav

[edit] Usage

“Check out those chavs on the streetcorner there.”

“That chavmobile is chavtastic.”

“chav da chava - chava.”

[edit] Elements of the stereotype

A caricature of a stereotypical chav

The essential credentials of being a chav is of someone conspicuously “common” as defined mostly by taste rather than actual social class. Elements/symptoms of the stereotypical chav are someone who:

  • Wears particular clothing, such as:
    • brand-name athletic clothing and shoes. Stereotypically, this might include white trainers (sneakers or tennis shoes) and tracksuits.
    • designer clothing and accessories (usually counterfeit), in particular the distinctive tartan of Burberry.
    • bling or fake gold jewellery — in particular conspicuous earrings and trinkets on chains for women, and gold sovereign rings for men.
    • sports caps or Burberry caps and hoodies (for males). Often both are worn at once, with the hood pulled up over the baseball cap.
    • sports or jogging trousers, especially white. These may be worn tucked into sport socks, but more commonly they are worn with one trouser leg pulled slightly above the ankle. These trousers are also referred to as “tracky Bs,” “trackies” or “tracky bottoms,” worn falling down.
  • If female, wears thickly applied make-up and large hoop earrings; makes heavy use of fake tan; and has a hairstyle in which the hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail (called a “Croydon facelift”<ref>"The true hair to the chav throne?", Croydon Guardian, 2005-01-26.</ref> or “council-house facelift”).
  • Owns a modified car, usually with a basic original specification, but decorated in a gaudy style. The Vauxhall Nova is one of the many small hatchbacks associated with this group.<ref name="grauniad">Barton, Laura. "This week", The Guardian, 2004-10-02.</ref> It is therefore associated with Max Power magazine.
  • Aspires to the latest mobile phone and other mobile gadgetry. Typically these include the Motorola RAZR series phone (particularly in the pink colour) and iPod Shuffle music player.<ref>"Shuffle takes Chav gadget award", Tech Digest, 2005-12-02.</ref>

A charva is someone from the “unworking class” – living off benefits and not actively seeking work. It is also often used to specifically refer to the children of such people and not the parents themselves. Typically, a charva is someone who:

[edit] Criticism of the stereotype

The widespread use of the chav stereotype has come under criticism; many argue that it amounts simply to snobbery and classism, and that serious social problems such as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, teenage pregnancy, delinquency and alcoholism in low-income areas should not be scoffed at. Critics of the term have argued that its proponents are “neo-snobs,”<ref>Bennett, Oliver. "Sneer nation", The Independent, 2004-01-28.</ref> and that its increasing popularity raises questions about how British society deals with social mobility and class.<ref name=dissertation>Smith, Alison. "Media student 'expert on chavs'", BBC News, 2005-06-14.</ref> In a February 2005 article in The Times, Julie Burchill argued that use of the word is a form of “social racism,” and that such “sneering” reveals more about the shortcomings of the “chav-haters” than those of their supposed victims.<ref>Burchill, Julie. "Yeah but, no but, why I'm proud to be a chav", The Times, 2005-02-18.</ref> Burchill also produced a Sky One television programme on the topic where she sought to link the word with the entire working-class population. The controversy around the term was also the subject of a Channel 4 documentary in July 2005, simply entitled Chavs.

[edit] Commercial effect

The Burberry clothing brand, which quickly became synonymous with the “chav” subculture, ceased production of its branded baseball cap in 2004, in an attempt to distance itself from the stereotype. They also scaled back the use of their patented checkered/tartan design to such an extent that it now only appears on the inner linings and other very low key positions of their clothing.<ref>"The £16m woman takes on Burberry", The Times.</ref><ref>"Check out the height of ferret fashion. Burberry has", The Telegraph.</ref> The company has argued that all chavs are associated with counterfeit versions of the clothing: “They’re yesterday’s news,” stated Stacey Cartwright, the CEO of Burberry. “It was mostly counterfeit, and Britain accounts for less than 10% of our sales anyway.”<ref>King, Ian. "Burberry not chavin' it", The Sun, 2005-01-12.</ref> In August 2006 a company introducing tuktuk vehicles into the south coast resort of Brighton, England named one of the vehicles the “Chavrolet” and had it painted in the distinctive Burberry tartan. However, the company soon had to withdraw this vehicle after being threatened with proceedings for breach of copyright by the Burberry company.<ref>Kwintner, Adrian. "[[3] "Burberry drives tuk-tuk off road"]", Brighton & Hove Argus, 13 September 2006. Retrieved on [[18 September 2006]].</ref>

Additionally, the fall in the sale of thongs has been attributed partially to their association with female “chavs”<ref>"The fall of the thong", 7days, 2005-08-01.</ref>.

In 2005, Bluewater Shopping Centre banned hooded tops from anywhere in their complex.<ref>"Mall bans shoppers' hooded tops", BBC NEWS.</ref> Pubs in Leicester announced that they would ban young people wearing certain fashion brands due to an association between these brands and football hooliganism.<ref>"Pub-goers facing 'Burberry' ban", BBC news.</ref>

The large supermarket chain ASDA has attempted to trademark the word “chav” for a new line of confectionery. ASDA spokeswoman Rebecca Liburd said: “With slogans from characters in shows such as Little Britain and the Catherine Tate Show providing us with more and more contemporary slang, our Whatever sweets — now nicknamed chav hearts — have become very popular with kids and grown-ups alike. We thought we needed to give them some respect and have decided to trademark our sweets.”<ref>"ASDA tries to trade mark "chav"", AOL NEWS.</ref>

[edit] Media characterisation

The “chav culture” has been portrayed extensively in British media:

  • The character Vicky Pollard, as portrayed by Matt Lucas in the BBC comedy series “Little Britain”, is perhaps the most iconic charva caricature. She is often seen in a pink Kappa tracksuit, and describes — at an almost incoherently fast pace — her activities of under-age drinking and sex (leading to her having several children), mindless gossip, petty crimes and playing truant. She also has no respect for any form of authority. Matt Lucas himself has admitted that the character was based on the youths he saw in Bristol when he was a student.<ref name="dooyoo">DooYoo DVD review. URL accessed 2006-03-26</ref>
  • The BBC Three sketch show “Tittybangbang” also features three “chavette” characters called Colleen, Melanie and Natalie, who all speak in thick West Indian “Patois” dialect, even though two of them are white.
  • Other portrayals include that of the notorious “Devvo” on the popular website Fat-Pie and E4. Devvo epitomizes the behaviour of a typical charva, with his violent behaviour and constant swearing. Such comical attributes as his driving ban without having ever held a licence and his begging for money whilst denouncing Third World charity hold similar pretexts in reality with regard to “chavvish” lifestyle. Occasionally thought to be genuine, Devvo actually is played by Crust, a friend of David Firth (the owner of Fat-Pie), and he lends his voice to several of the flash animations on the site.
  • The British magazine Viz includes a character called Tasha Slappa, an exaggerated teenage female charva. The strip has satirised charva culture since its inception in the 1990s. (The character was originally called “Kappa Slappa” until the Kappa company filed a lawsuit against “Viz”. The term “Kappa Slappa” was used in the North East prior to its adoption by “Viz” to describe a female charva. “Slapper” itself is an older British slang term for a sexually promiscuous female.)
  • Lottery millionaire Michael Carroll is the self-proclaimed “King of the Chavs” due to his lifestyle and antics. He is frequently derided in the tabloid press for his anti-social behaviour, and is often referred to as the “Lotto Lout” in the British media.
  • British magazine Tatler ran a story with the tagline “Prince Harry and his chavistocracy” at the apex of Harry's party antics.
  • Indie/Brit Pop band Arctic Monkeys' song “A Certain Romance” describes the aesthetic of “chav” with the lyrics “although they might wear classic Reeboks / or knackered Converse / or tracky bottoms tucked in socks.”
  • British band The Libertines have also expressed their distaste of chavs. Their song “Time for Heroes” includes the observation, “There are fewer more distressing sights than that of an English man in a baseball cap.”

[edit] See also

[edit] Social categorisation

[edit] UK subcultures

[edit] Similar stereotypes from outside the UK

[edit] Rest of Europe
[edit] North America
[edit] Caribbean and Latin America
[edit] The Pacific
[edit] Asia

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] Further reading

  • Keith Hayward and Majid Yar (2006). "The "chav" phenomenon: Consumption, media and the construction of a new underclass". Crime, Media, Culture 2 (1): 9–28. DOI:10.1177/1741659006061708.

[edit] External links

[edit] Articles

[edit] Other

pl:Dresiarze ru:Гопник fi:Pissis sv:Fjortis uk:Гопники

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