Chav

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Chav/Charv/Charva is a derogatory term applied to certain young people in England. The stereotypical view of a chav is a white agressive teen or young adult, of working class background, who wears branded sports and casual clothing (baseball caps are also common). Often fights and engages in petty criminality and are often assumed to be unemployed or in a low paid job.

The term appeared in mainstream dictionaries in 2005.^[1][2] 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), while in the South East of England and South West of England chav is the usual form. The northwest and particularly Liverpool use the word Scally. Similar words in use outside England include "neds" in Scotland and "spides" or "skangers" in Ireland.

Response to the term has ranged from amusement to criticism that it is a new manifestation of classism.^[3] However, it is important to note that chav is not a straight synonym for "working class person", but refers to a specific mode of behaviour, dress and speech that is far from universal amongst the British working class (although for the most part is restricted to it). The term has also been associated with juvenile delinquency, the "ASBO Generation" and "Yob culture".

Etymology

There has been much speculation about the origin of the word "chav", with many varying sources ranging from Romani Traveller origins to Police slang terms for types of young criminals. The word "charva" has also been in use in the North East of England since at least the early 1990s.^{[citation needed]} The two words are identical in meaning but it is possible that they may be etymologically distinct. In general the various origins and explanations for the term have been retrofitted at a time when the original meaning has long since been lost.

A mooted etymology for "chav" is that it derives from the Romani word "chavi" or čhavorse (pronounced [cʰaʋo]) meaning boy.^[4] 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).^[5] The term "chavvy", for child or young person, is known to have migrated from Romani into the local dialects of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire in the post-war years, coming into common usage in the late 1940s.^{[citation needed]} The name Chav and Chavvy is still in common use in the travelling fraternity in Kent and Sussex referring to their young sons in an endearing way, and shouldn't be confused with the derogatory modern version.

Many folk etymologies have sprung up around the word. These include backronyms such as "Council Housed And Violent" and "Council House Adolescent Vermin".^[6] 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").^[7]

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"^[8] in 2004.^[9] 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.^[10]

• 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^[11] and his wife Coleen,^[12] rapper Lady Sovereign,^[13] glamour model Jordan,^[14] actress Danniella Westbrook,^[15], former Big Brother contestant Jade Goody^[16] and Kerry Katona^[17] 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".

• British soap families "The McQueens" from Hollyoaks & "The Slaters" from Eastenders are seen as Chavs/Charvas.

Criticism of the stereotype

The widespread use of the chav stereotype has come under criticism; some argue^[18] that it amounts simply to snobbery and elitism,^[3] 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,”^[19] and that its increasing popularity raises questions about how British society deals with social mobility and class.^[15] 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.^[20] The writer John Harris argued along similar lines in a 2007 article in The Guardian.^[21]

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 is a clothing company whose products were initially associated with the chav stereotype. Burberry's appeal to chav fashion sense is a sociological example of prole drift, where an up-market product begins to be consumed en masse by a lower socio-economic group. Burberry has argued that the brand's popular association with chav fashion sense 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."^[22] 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.^[23][24] 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 when Burberry threatened proceedings for breach of copyright.^[25]

• In 2005, Bluewater Shopping Centre banned hooded tops from anywhere in their complex.^[26] 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.^[27]

• 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.”^[28]

See also

• Folk devil
• Lumpenproletariat
• Deviancy
• Moral panic
• Social class
• Scally
• Stereotype
• Subculture
• Underclass
• Wigger
• Prole drift

References

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. 

Articles

• Larcombe, Duncan (2006-04-10). "Future bling of England", The Sun Online. Retrieved on 6 March 2007. 
• Ward, David (2004-10-09). "Get hip to Chav as this year's wizard word", The Guardian, Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 6 March 2007. 
• Jackson, Melissa (2005-01-10). "Music to deter yobs by", BBC News Magazine, bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 6 March 2007. 
• "End Of 'Hooligan' Cap", Sky News (2004-09-10). Retrieved on 6 March 2007. 
• Lewis, Jemima (2004-02-01). "In defence of snobbery", Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 6 March 2007. 
• Harris, John (2007-03-06). "So now we've finally got our very own 'white trash'", The Guardian, Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 6 March 2007.