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Original poster

To think 'chav' is not an okay thing to call people?

455 replies

enternow99 · 19/07/2024 15:11

I find the use of chav on Mumsnet shocking. Is this name chavvy? Is this holiday destination chavvy? Is this outfit chavvy? Chavs moved in next door (I'm a leaseholder, they rent!!!!)

I understand its snobbiness but isn't it a bit horrible?

OP posts:
chav1 · 19/07/2024 17:12

ABirdsEyeView · 19/07/2024 17:05

It's not a representation of the working class. It's a term used to describe the criminal wasters within our society.

So a middle or upper class criminal waster within our society is represented by the term Chav - and it's utilised for them? Where?
Chav is a particular representation of the working class, utilised.

Chickenuggetsticks · 19/07/2024 17:11

I was talking to DH about this, someone used the phrase the other day to me (not at me) and I was a bit surprised, I didn’t think it was acceptable anymore. But then I don’t like gammon or karen etc either.

ABirdsEyeView · 19/07/2024 17:09

@chav1, I am working class. I suspect that as a teen, my very middle class best friend's parents considers my family to be chavvy (council estate, not uni educated etc). But they are awful people, whose opinions are of no consequence. And they were wrong.
I can't see the point in getting hung up on it or offended by it.

Southener · 19/07/2024 17:08

Persiancouscous · 19/07/2024 16:52

That's your experience and there's my experience. I have chavvy friends and a bit chavvy myself- who cares the word has been used since we were at school, it's hardly offensive.

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Fair enough. My experience is that I have Romani heritage, and that word holds a significance for me that's not positive.
You can use it to describe yourself in a semi-comedic way, sure. That's your business.
But understand that for some, it essentially has origins in a racist slur.

Skinglow · 19/07/2024 17:08

Beezknees · 19/07/2024 17:06

I'm working class and don't agree with you at all. Why are you assuming everyone who doesn't like the word is middle class?

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Obviously thinks all WC people are thickos who wouldn't care about such things.

Beezknees · 19/07/2024 17:08

TheaBrandt · 19/07/2024 16:34

The gentle souls who dislike the term have no doubt led sheltered lives away from such behaviour- lucky them!

Load of rubbish. My dad was a drug addict thief and would probably be called one by many of you. I live in a council flat and have done for 16 years.

Thelondonone · 19/07/2024 17:07

I am old enough and northern enough to have used the word charva and at one point probably was one. My friends often call themselves chavs. I rarely use it now as it’s not relevant where I live. I’m not offended by it.

GiveMyHeadPeaceffs · 19/07/2024 17:07

I prefer the term "plebs" Grin

Beezknees · 19/07/2024 17:06

Screamingabdabz · 19/07/2024 16:41

Jeez the pearl clutching. 🙄

Only the middle classes would find offence in a term that working class communities use freely to describe the arseholes - feckless, shit for brains, no manners, usually criminal tendencies, no consideration and brash with no taste or sensitivity.

It distinguishes people who may be poor, from those who are poor but act like anti-social dicks. As a WC person who has experienced class prejudice on the daily I totally get why this group is labelled like that.

Middle classes never get it and by throwing a fit of vapours they massively reveal their own power privilege.

Let them have chav ffs! it works perfectly well and we all know what it means.

I'm working class and don't agree with you at all. Why are you assuming everyone who doesn't like the word is middle class?

Skinglow · 19/07/2024 17:06

Screamingabdabz · 19/07/2024 16:55

Love the middle classes in here tying themselves in knots trying to define and defend people they build a whole life trying to avoid! 😂

I'm not MC, in fact I suspect most of MN would describe me as a 'chav' due to where I live and my daughters name. I still wouldn't call anyone a 'chav' though.

ABirdsEyeView · 19/07/2024 17:05

It's not a representation of the working class. It's a term used to describe the criminal wasters within our society.

ABirdsEyeView · 19/07/2024 17:03

Offensive people deserve offensive terms. If a person doesn't behave respectfully in society, they don't deserve for society to respect them. Not that your average chav would care what any of us think anyway!

chav1 · 19/07/2024 17:02

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavs:_The_Demonization_of_the_Working_Class

ingerdancedbackwards · Today 16:15

I already own that book and like I said upthread I don't consider 'chav' to be an interchangeable term with 'working class'.

ABirdsEyeView · Today 16:09
It isn't interchangeable.
2 very different classes

Chav is a representation of the working class, utilised.

gardenmusic · 19/07/2024 17:00

Persian couscous, I can assure you, you are not a chavvy.
You cannot identify as a Chavvy.
For those of use who know the origin, it is offensive when used to denegrate or as a put down.

vincettenoir · 19/07/2024 16:59

You don’t have to be middle class to understand that it is an offensive term.

Do you think only middle class people are capable of empathy or something?

Ihopeithinkiknow · 19/07/2024 16:59

keylimedog · 19/07/2024 16:09

I'd use the word chav, I'd use the word toff, I'd say scally, I'd say scrotes etc - it's just a descriptor!

I love the word scrotes lol it's hard to describe what a scrote is but we all know exactly what one looks like lol

IcyKoala · 19/07/2024 16:57

Screamingabdabz · 19/07/2024 16:52

That’s because they are ignorantly looking down from a lofty position. Those of us who live around them know exactly what the term means. And why they’re castigated as such.

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Lol I am not from a lofty position! I know exactly how it is used.

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 19/07/2024 16:55

I get called a chav all the time mainly by my other half.

I did hear a colleague say another colleague was chavvy the other day and mused over it for a while, wondering if it was acceptable in the workplace.

Screamingabdabz · 19/07/2024 16:55

Love the middle classes in here tying themselves in knots trying to define and defend people they build a whole life trying to avoid! 😂

Persiancouscous · 19/07/2024 16:52

Southener · 19/07/2024 16:00

No, they don't.

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That's your experience and there's my experience. I have chavvy friends and a bit chavvy myself- who cares the word has been used since we were at school, it's hardly offensive.

Screamingabdabz · 19/07/2024 16:52

Needmorelego · 19/07/2024 16:42

@Screamingabdabz people don't know what it means though - going by this thread.

That’s because they are ignorantly looking down from a lofty position. Those of us who live around them know exactly what the term means. And why they’re castigated as such.

Lesleyknopeswaffleiron · 19/07/2024 16:50

Agree with you @enternow99 - thanks for starting this thread. It’s a horrible word, and this thread has shown that it isn’t a shorthand for anything in particular. @5128gap nailed it above

gardenmusic · 19/07/2024 16:48

TheaBrandt

Yes, they are an absolute pain in the arse, but they are not Chavs.
Entitled little shits maybe, but not Chavs.

HarrytheHobbit · 19/07/2024 16:47

Scrote is a much better term

TheaBrandt · 19/07/2024 16:46

Some of our worst holiday behaviour was a group of extremely posh teens in Kenya. Hideous. They cleared the pool area of all normal guests.

Exactly screaming. Most people of all types behave decently but if you don’t and you disturb others well yes they will judge you. If you’ve had people like this as neighbours you will understand. All your gentleness will drain away after experiencing being kept awake by gangsta rap and the screaming fights in the street.