To hate chavvy?

[Mrsknackered]

It's such a horrible word. It gets thrown around on here like it's nothing. It's classist, sneery, offensive, I could go on!

Also if something IS chavvy, let's say a name, what exactly does it being chavvy mean? What makes a chav...a chav?

I spend most of my time on MN challenging that sort of attitude.

From the urban dictionary:

Derived from Chatham in Kent, this term can be applied loosely to every culture with a nasty, thieving element. There are many variants of this creature but all are subject to the following commonalities:

Chavs are completely Amoral, having never been subjected to right and wrong by their inattentive, uncaring and often absent parents.

Chavs are part Magpie, evidentially supported by their love of all things shiny, or as vaccuous, illiterate street-slang would say 'Bling'. They can be seen twokking from the Jewelry counter in Argos/Index.

Whatever their ethnic background, Chavs have a built-in affinity to hip-hop/R&B, even if they are inherently racist (see the Scottish). They see their life as glamorous and cool.

Chavs are for the most part, extremely stupid. However, some of them render a form of low cunning, which can be misinterpreted as intelligence. However this is false. A Chav has no desire to better themself through honest means nor learn anything outside of car modification.

All chavs think that they are nails. Again, this is false. Sitting in a beaten up nova smoking lamberts does not precipitate a healthy body. The irony being that a Chav owns mainly sportswear, yet will only break a sweat if running from the police.

Chavs are incredibly fertile beasts, and are highly successful breeders. Where they come unstuck is having to look after the offspring which their 13 yr old drunken fumble produces. More often that not the child will crow to be a Chav, having received no more guidance on life than the parent.

Chavs have a fond love for cars, as well as a Vin Diesel fixation. Rather than buy a nice car to start with, a chav will spend all their dole and tax-free labouring cash on
upgrading a 10 year old car with 200,000 miles on the clock. The end product will invariably be a luminous monstrosity with at least one serious collision to it's name.
Come back with my bumper, you fucking Chav thief

by chavspotting April 27, 2004

(The use of capital letters and other punctuation is a bit hit and miss to say the least!!)

and I don't hate the term. I think it its a certain type of person and behaviour very well.

It's also a bit dated but generally accurate in terms of stereotypes.

Interesting article about the word chav.

www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-cha2.htm

Today 14:51 CiliatedEpithelium

I am fairly sure it originated as an Indian word and brought here by Romany Gypsies.

Yep. Have read that too .

Things that might be considered chavvy:

Drinking a beer/cider during the day
Kids dressed in Burberry
A double barrelled name

Yet if you are of a 'higher' class it is totally acceptable to have a boost lunch, spend hundreds on Maman Bebe/Ergo's/Bugaboo's when there are cheaper options available, and royalty have like 8 names double barrelled!

*boozy lunch

In my experience on MN people are mostly shot down for using the term.

I don't use it myself as I think it is such a snobby term, as if you have decided what type of person someone is just by the clothes they wear or where they live or whatever. It's offensive.
Attitudes exactly like bigbuttons who have assumptions about people (I am a Brit and have spent time on Turkish beaches, and am working class - am I a chav? You have no idea as you have never met me)

chavi is a Romany word and simply means child. The other Romany connection is charver or prostitute

chavvy is something else entirely different

chavi and chavvy are homonyms. They do not mean the same thing.

To Scot a chav would be a ned (not educated delinquents) but folk etymology isn't always reliable (Council House And Violent, CHeltenham AVerage etc). Its been used round Kent (Medway Towns) since I can remember to describe nair'do'wells.

It's horrible and speaks volumes about anyone using it.
Of course it really means "not as good or worthy as me and my family and social circle"

People will say "ooh chav means a violent yob" but it's not used that way, if a banker in a suit punched someone they wouldn't call him a chav. It's used to sneer at the working class social housing tenants who dress either very casually or done up in a way that's seen as "common". It's classism.

Chavvy for me is about behaviour and attitude rather than class. I'm working class but far from being a chav!

classism does that only work one way or is calling people posh because the vote a different way to you also classism?

FWIW I spent 20 years in the city and I met plenty of well dressed, monied oiks that could be classed as chavs

It's one of these words that really define those who use it.

Only those with very poor manners would use the word chavvy.

chav down here really is a throwaway word no one gets their panties wet over, used by all classes - even the ones people like to patronise with a downward glance yet full of fond indulgence; but pikey on the other hand really is a pejorative word. I'd save ire for that .

To Scot a chav would be a ned (not educated delinquents)

Growing up in Edinburgh in the 80s we referred to them as "schemies" - literally someone from a "scheme" or council housing estate. Ned might mean non-educated delinquent but that implies being on the wrong side of the law - a chav/ned/schemie might have never had a minor brush with the law but are still idenfiable by their lifestyle choices.

To Scot a chav would be a ned (not educated delinquents)

Growing up in Edinburgh in the 80s we referred to them as "schemies" - literally someone from a "scheme" or council housing estate. Ned might mean non-educated delinquent but that implies being on the wrong side of the law - a chav/ned/schemie might have never had a minor brush with the law but are still idenfiable by their lifestyle choices.

YANBU, OP. Horrible word.

AIUI it's generally used to mean 'lacking in taste' as a PP says. Which slides into '(ostentatiously) not MC'.

There are certain looks, ways of dressing, activities, baby naming styles etc which together act as signifiers, I think - and there are some that don't appeal to me at all - and I tend to identify with 'MC' signifiers - but IMO 'chav' is virtually hate speech.

I work with an ex social worker who does the whole MN thing - head tilt, deep sigh and comes out with stunners such as "will no one think of all the poor people" like they are pet dogs or something. Highly patronising. She conforms to pseudo middle class socialism stereotype.

I use it as verbal short hand like I would use punk, emo, hipster, goth to describe someone who slotted into those catergories.

Stilldrivingmebonkers

My pet hate is vulnerable. Everyone's bloody vulnerable.
I once got attacked in a liberal blog for "raising the expectations of vulnerable people" for doing a voter registration drive outside a job centre.

I wonder if noticed the implications of that statement. He coyld have sais: Working class people can't be trusted with the vote and I have nothing to offer them anyway. With a left like that who needs the right.

could have said

"Chavvy for me is about behaviour and attitude rather than class. I'm working class but far from being a chav!"

This

For some, the mannerism, the look, the clothing, the make-up, the cars, the brands are all aspirational and desirable. Chav is not working class (or any other class) - chav is no different to emo, punk etc. Its not even about not having middle class tastes as there are some very middle class brands that chavs wear (or at least market copies). Its a mindset.

I understand that in the past the acronym may have been used by the authorities (police? Social services?) to identify their staff that some people they would have to come in contact with may have aggressive behaviour.

That's one of those retrofitted acronyms, like people still insisting 'posh' derives from 'port out starboard home' in the heyday of the BE, despite the fact that this has been thoroughly debunked. Also, I don't think anyone is hugely exercised about where the term derives from, but it's ridiculous to pretend that it's not classist and pejorative, even when people claim they're using it to describe someone's self-presentation/behaviour.

I think it's become shorthand for lacking in taste, particularly when it comes to dress, make up and riotous behaviour.

Frankly, you could say exactly the same for the members of the Bullingdon Club, in or out of their revolting tailcoats. Only no one would, because these are wealthy Establishment offspring who trash restaurants, behave anti-socially and with no respect for the law, dress badly and burn fifties in front of homeless people.