From: "Canis Lupus"
Subject: Chavs
Date: October 19, 2004
"A 'chav' is a member of a particular socioeconomic subgroup in the UK.
Closest US equivalent might be 'trailer trash', but it's a little more
nuanced than that. In a way, it represents a section of the
UK population who have imported the exaggerated, stereotyped 'black culture' depicted in 'gangsta rap' videos, wholesale and irony-free.
Some people consider the term to be 'classist' and indicative of snobbery and/or general financial elitism in the user; the 'snobbery'
accusation might have some merit but 'chav' is _not_ a synonym for
'poor' or 'working class'. Indeed, a definitive feature of being
'chav' is to have enough disposable currency to spend it on certain
types of non-or-low-utility, decorative mass-market consumer products – 'bling' would be a key word here.
Examples of purchases that would
be considered 'chavvy':
- car hubcaps that rotate independently of the wheel's motion
- in fact, just about anything that involves 'hotrodding' a tiny
'compact' (or 'hot-hatch') car, typically in a manner which makes it
more visually gaudy without having any effect on the performance
characteristics.
- It's important to have spent more on 'blinging' a broken/unreliable
car than it would've cost to buy a reliable, fast or comfortable car
in the first place. Note also, this is generally _not_ a 'DIY' or
'tinkering' thing, but something purchased and fitted by professionals at garages.
- (female) white ultra-mini-skirts with gold-clasped belts
- (male) white or blue-with-white-stripe tracksuits and/or 'hoodies'
- (either) white trainers
- (either) baseball cap
- (either) burberry
- a wide variety of clothing brands that might not exist outside the UK
- alcohol in binge-drinking quantities
Pictorial reference:
http://www.scallycentral.com/images/streetlife/streetlife_100.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/v8_engines_suck/burberry_hatch.gif
http://burberry03.skyblog.com/pics/1194885.jpg
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13218423,00.html
http://www.chavster.co.uk/
