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Chav (Template:PronEng, with 'ch' as in chair) also Charv/Charver (Template:PronEng) are mainly derogatory slang terms in the United Kingdom for a stereotype fixated on low quality or counterfeit goods.

The word chav refers to the eratic behavior of teenagers with puny brain cells. such chavs are now in jail. some chavs are called james curzons and rhiess clarkson

The term appeared in mainstream dictionaries in 2005. There are regional variations; in the North East of England the variant charv / charva is most commonly used (particularly in Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland areas, where the term originated.) and has been used since the early 1990s, while in the South East of England and South West of England chav is the usual form. The term differs depending on area and dialect; in Scotland, they are known as "neds".

What is unusual is that the vowel in charver is ɑ (as in 'far') and the mainstream UK equivalent uses the a (as in 'cat') vowel in chav which goes against the usual North-South (a/ɑ) vowel distinction.

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 juvenile delinquency, the "ASBO Generation", "Hoodie culture", and "Yob culture".

Etymology

The accepted etymology for "chav" is that it derives from the Romani word "chavi", meaning a child. Related words derived from the same source include "charva" meaning prostitute (used in north-east England in a similar sense). In modern Spanish "chaval", "chavo" or "chavón" means "lad" (eg: El Chavo, a Mexican television comedy whose principal character is a street orphan).

Many folk etymologies have sprung up around the word. These include backronyms such as "Council Housed And Violent" and "Council House Adult 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"). Similarly, it has been thought to originate from the Medway Towns where it was used to describe people from the town of Chatham ("Chatham Average").

Popularisation in the media

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" in 2004. 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.

The "chav culture" has been portrayed extensively in British media:

• The Welsh rap group, Goldie Lookin' Chain, have been described as both embodying and satirising the chav aesthetic, though the group themselves deny any such agenda, simply making a mockery of the subject. The British car tuning magazine Max Power once had a beige Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier stickered to make it look like the Burberry check, named it the "Chavalier" and gave it to the band.

• Footballer Wayne Rooney and girlfriend Coleen McLoughlin, rapper Lady Sovereign, glamour model Jordan, actress Danniella Westbrook,, former Big Brother contestant Jade Goody and Kerry Katona have also been labelled "chavs" by British tabloids.

• The popular character Lauren Cooper and her friends Lisa and Ryan from the BBC's comedy series The Catherine Tate Show exhibit clear Chav style clothing, behaviour, mannerisms and musical interests, along with surly attitudes. Fellow sketch comedy series Little Britain features a character with some similarities, Vicky Pollard.

• In the 2005 reality TV programme Bad Lads Army: Officer Class, a number of small time thieves and street brawlers underwent 1950's style National Service Army training to see which of them would be worthy of becoming a British Army officer. The motto of the show was to convert "chavs" into "chaps".

• In the UK TV series Doctor Who, the character Rose Tyler is referred to as a chav. When her consciousness is taken over by another character, she looks in a mirror and remarks "Oh my God, I'm a chav!" and later says upon re-entering her body "Oh great, chav-tastic again". This is apparently a reference to the character's attire rather than behaviour.

Criticism of the stereotype

The widespread use of the chav stereotype has come under criticism; some argue that it amounts simply to snobbery and elitism, 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,” and that its increasing popularity raises questions about how British society deals with social mobility and class. 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. The writer John Harris argued along similar lines in a 2007 article in The Guardian.

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.

Commercial effect

Burberry, the clothing company whose products were initially associated with the stereotype, has argued that it is linked to 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." The company has taken a number of steps to distance itself from the stereotype. It ceased production of its own branded baseball cap in 2004 and has scaled back the use of its trademarked 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. It has also taken legal action against high-profile infringements of the brand. In August 2006, a company introducing tuk-tuk vehicles into the south coast resort of Brighton, England named one the "Chavrolet" which 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.

In 2005, Bluewater Shopping Centre banned hooded tops from anywhere in their complex. Pubs in Leicester announced that they would ban young people wearing certain fashion brands, including Burberry, due to a link between some of these brands and football hooliganism.

The large supermarket chain ASDA has attempted to trademark the word "chav" for a new line of confectionery. A spokeswoman 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.”

See also

• Stereotype
• Social class
• Moral panic
• Folk devil
• Lumpenproletariat
• Underclass
• Subculture
• Deviancy
• Hoody
• Ned
• Scally
• White trash
• Bogan

References

1. "'Asbo' and 'chav' make dictionary". BBC News. 2005-06-08. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
2. Tweedie, Neil (2005-08-10). "Don't be a plank. Read this and get really clueful". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
3. "'BBC North East: Inside Out - Charvers'". BBC News. 2005-02-21. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
4. ^ John, Harris (2006-04-11). "Bottom of the Class" (HTML). The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
5. Quinion, Michael. "World Wide Words".
6. "Chaval definition at Yahoo Education". Retrieved 2007-07-28.
7. Anoop Nayak and Steve Drayton. "To charv or not to charver - that is the question". Inside Out - North East. BBC. Retrieved 2006-01-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
8. Tweedie, Neil (2004-12-13). "Cheltenham ladies and the chavs". Daily Telegraph. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. Noel-Tod, Jeremy (2005-04-03). "Colourful whitewash". The Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
10. "AskOxford: Larpers and Shroomers: the Language Report". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
11. "Goldie Lookin' Chain: Chain reaction". The Independent. 2004-08-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Wheeler, Brian (2005-06-30). "Leave chavs alone, say MPs". BBC News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Patrick, Guy (2005). "Chav a merry Xmas, Roo". The Sun.
14. Davis, Johnny (2006-04-15). "Lady Sovereign: The country's fourth biggest chav". The Independent. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Byrnes, Sholto (2005-09-11). "Say cheese! Camilla and the Queen of Chav enjoy two right royal". The Independent. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. ^ Smith, Alison (2005-06-14). "Media student 'expert on chavs'". BBC News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. McVeigh, Karen (2004-10-19). "Doff your caps to the chavs ...they're THE word of 2004". The Scotsman. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
18. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=409087&in_page_id=1773
19. Bennett, Oliver (2004-01-28). "Sneer nation". The Independent. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. Burchill, Julie (2005-02-18). "Yeah but, no but, why I'm proud to be a chav". The Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. Harris, John (2007-03-06). "So now we've finally got our very own 'white trash'". The Guardian. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. King, Ian (2005-01-12). "Burberry not chavin' it". The Sun. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. "The £16m woman takes on Burberry". The Times.
24. "Check out the height of ferret fashion. Burberry has". The Telegraph.
25. Kwintner, Adrian (13 September 2006). ""Burberry drives tuk-tuk off road"". Brighton & Hove Argus. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
26. "Mall bans shoppers' hooded tops". BBC NEWS.
27. "Pub-goers facing 'Burberry' ban". BBC news.
28. "ASDA tries to trade mark "chav"". AOL NEWS.

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.

External links

Articles

• Larcombe, Duncan (2006-04-10). "Future bling of England". The Sun Online. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Ward, David (2004-10-09). "Get hip to Chav as this year's wizard word". The Guardian. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Jackson, Melissa (2005-01-10). "Music to deter yobs by". BBC News Magazine. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "End Of 'Hooligan' Cap". Sky News. 2004-09-10. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Lewis, Jemima (2004-02-01). "In defence of snobbery". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Harris, John (2007-03-06). "So now we've finally got our very own 'white trash'". The Guardian. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Burberry

• Youth culture in the United Kingdom
• Pejorative terms for people
• Social groups
• Slang
• Subcultures
• Stereotypes
• British culture
• Romani loan words
• Fashion aesthetics