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Original poster

What is a chav??

66 replies

tex111 · 16/08/2004 10:32

I've heard this term used a few times recently and I believe it refers to a person but I haven't been able to work out exactly what kind of person. Is this new or just a British term I haven't come across before?

OP posts:
allthegirls · 16/08/2004 10:38

A chav is a gypsy. Its used a lot down south! I had never heard of it untill I moved down south. They are also sometimes called pikeys!

Original poster
tex111 · 16/08/2004 10:39

Oh, OK. Yep, we're in Kent. Thanks, that helps. Terrible when you don't know what people are talking about!

OP posts:
jampot · 16/08/2004 10:39

the term chav (which has caused great offence on MN) is hard to describe. see this site for more information. I think the word "scum" after chav has caused much offence. It is not that chav's are scum any more to say that mumsnet is only for mums!

jampot · 16/08/2004 10:41

OMG - terrible punctuation - I meant to say "chavs are not scum" !!!! please don't get the punctuation police on me

lydialemon · 16/08/2004 10:43

IMO its a nasty little word (as is pikey), and used in reference to gypsys or travellers is racist.

Original poster
tex111 · 16/08/2004 10:47

That was my next question lydialemon. I got the feeling that it was a derogatory term but wasn't sure. I'll check out the website for more clarification.

It's like learning a foreign language sometimes and DH (who is English) is no help. He thinks it's hilarious when I unknowingly use rude words!

OP posts:
Original poster
tex111 · 16/08/2004 10:48

Anyone know the origin of the term? Is it short for somethine else?

OP posts:
Fio2 · 16/08/2004 10:50

dont know tex, but dont use it, it is not PC

Original poster
tex111 · 16/08/2004 10:53

Ah, yes the website made it very clear. Thanks for that.

OP posts:
Moomin · 16/08/2004 10:56

when it's been used in the media lately it doesn't refer to gypsies but to the culture and people in that link that jampot did, e.g. the burberry-wearing, pitbull-owning, r&b-listening, trisha-watching, bling bling 'tribe' (for want of a better word)

allthegirls · 16/08/2004 11:18

ok sorry I got it wrong. I didn't realize it was used as a nasty term just thought it was a southern thing! sorry!!

Northerner · 16/08/2004 11:24

I think it originates from the term 'Cheltenham Average' as that's wehere it first started being used.

Fail to see how it's a racist word though.

Original poster
tex111 · 16/08/2004 11:30

So do people who fulfill the chav description call themselves chavs or is it a negative term made up by people outside the 'tribe'?

Northerner, what does Cheltenham Average mean? I'm probably being incredibly dense but I do feel a bit lost.

Allthegirls, glad I'm not the only one who didn't know!

OP posts:
allthegirls · 16/08/2004 11:32

I know some people from round here ( i am in kent aswell) who call themselves chavs or pikeys which is why I thought it was ok!!

CountessDracula · 16/08/2004 11:32

CHELTENHAM???? Chatham I think you'll find!

I think cheltenham is in fact rather posh (well compared to Chatham!)

CountessDracula · 16/08/2004 11:32

Hey northerner I thought you had no web access for 2 weeks! Did you see my thread last week?

Fio2 · 16/08/2004 11:36

I am meeting a very nice mumsnetter from chatham on thursday so can we stop the kent bashing please! >>said in a very serious tone of voice

CountessDracula · 16/08/2004 11:40

Oh I wasn't, never even been there!

Blu · 16/08/2004 11:41

Not 'racist' Northerner - but to me, classist.

There's always a fine line between affectionate terms used to 'typify' someone, or used in self-depractory humour, and consigning a whole group of people as fair game for contempt and jokes.

'Chav' seems to be taking over from 'Essex Girls'.

lydialemon · 16/08/2004 11:55

Racist when used to describe gypsys or travellers as they are an ethnic group, and like Blu says more a social class thing with the other. I have to say that even being 'down south' the only place I've seen this term has been on MN! The website that was linked to the original thread was plain nasty as far as I could tell, but maybe I don't have a sense of humour when it comes to stuff like this.

hmb · 16/08/2004 12:21

Are travelers an ethnic group? I know that Romany people are seen as an ethnic group, but not all travellers are Romany. Some 'new age' travellers are no more a separate ethnic group than any other group of people who have made a 'life style' choice.

I grew up in South Wales and so I am ethnically Welsh (I suppose, all of us being humans first and formost). I no longer form part of the Vallys tradition of the cold mining community. There is a difference, I think, between your ethnic group and the way you choose to spend your life.

muddaofsuburbia · 16/08/2004 12:25

My understanding is that the name "chav" refers to the lads/girls who can be seen hanging around off-licences or haring around in body-kitted wrecks of cars. To generalise and stereotype: the lads tend to wear very peaked baseball caps - usually designer labels like Burberry/Hackett/Nicholson. Also sportswear for both guys and girls and a lot of gold jewellery.

Apparently the term is being reclaimed by the very people it was meant to insult. It's becoming another urban "tribe" in much the same way as being a goth or a skater is just a shorthand way of describing how you dress and what music you listen to etc.

It's a regional term. In the South East of England, it's "chav"; in Liverpool it's "scally"; in Glasgow it's "ned".

It's mainly still an insult. I've never heard it used to describe travellers or gypsies (I'm in Herts.)

Blu · 16/08/2004 12:40

I don't actually think it is used to describe gypises/romanies/travellers - I think that was a mistake.

I think that derogatory terms used to describe Romanies are racist - but obviously it's complicated as there are different groups of travellers. Just don't like any mass insults based on generalisation, stereotypes and an assumption of superiority, so am not that bothered about the exact definition of the 'ism'!

Aero · 16/08/2004 12:40

Very common round here (sunny Chatham) and pretty derogatory. Used as described by moomin and mos. In NI the term was 'millie' when I was growing up, which is a shame as Milly is friends dd's name!
Not very nice really and rather unkind but nevertheless a common term unfortunately!

Furball · 16/08/2004 12:42

Well I was born in Cheltenham and have never heard of it! Might This help everyone