chav

See also: čhâv

English

A caricature of a chav.

Etymology

Origin uncertain; probably of Angloromani origin. Compare Romani chavi (“male child”) or ćhavo, shavo (“female child”), chal (“boy”), chavvy (“mate, friend”), compare Swedish tjej; possibly cognate with Portuguese chavalo, Spanish chaval, German Chabo, Russian чувак (čuvak), Hungarian csávó. See also charva.

A derivation from "council-housed and violent" is widely regarded as a backronym and folk etymology.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃæv/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æv

Noun

chav (plural chavs)

1. (UK, MLE, Ireland, derogatory, offensive) A working-class youth, especially one associated with aggression, poor education, and a perceived "common" taste in clothing and lifestyle.

   Synonyms: charva, ned, pikey; see also Thesaurus:chav

   Coordinate term: chavette

   • a. 2009, Dizzee Rascal (lyrics and music), “Creeper (Freestyle)”:

     Lyrical staff / Never could they ever take me for a chav / Scholar in the English, scholar in the Math / Dizzee ain't no riff raff

   • 2011 June 18, “Giving the poor a good kicking”, in The Economist:

     His book concerns ‘chavs’, a supposed underclass of ill-educated, fast-breeding, violent and amoral poor people currently plaguing Britain.

Derived terms

• chavelling
• chavster
• chavtastic
• chavving
• chavvy

 

Translations

relating to a youth from a working class background, aggressive with poor education

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: MK (em¹ kei¹), MK仔 (em¹ kei¹ zai²)

  Mandarin: 殺馬特／杀马特 (zh) (shāmǎtè) (Mainland), 八加九 (bājiājiǔ) (Taiwan)

  Min Nan: 阿明 (A-bêng) (Singapore)

• Esperanto: marĝenulo m or c, misgustulo m or c
• Finnish: rakkari (fi)
• French: racaille (fr) f, cacou (fr) m
• German: Asi (de) m, Proll (de) m
• Greek: κάγκουρας (el) m (kágkouras)
• Hebrew: עַרְס (he) m ('ars)
• Italian: tamarro (it) m, zingaro (it) m, coatto (it) m, scugnizzo (it) m
• Japanese: ヤンキー (yankii), チンピラ (chinpira)
• Polish: dresiarz (pl) m, dres (pl) m, dresiara (pl) f
• Portuguese: maloqueiro m (Brazil), trombadinha (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: bombardier (ro) n, cocalar n
• Russian: го́пник (ru) m (gópnik)
• Serbo-Croatian: dizelaš (sh) m
• Spanish: flaite m (slang, Chile), cani (es) m, choni (es) f (Spain), poligonero m, poligonera f (Spain)

See also

• mush

References

• "Good news for chavs: they may be cool people soon" by Robin Young, The Times, 2004-10-19, accessed 2005-04-15
• World Wide Words: chav, by Michael Quinion, accessed 2005-04-15
• Posting by "Quizmonster" in The Answer Bank, 2005-02-22, accessed 2005-04-15
• Posting by "Dick Jones" in FrizzyLogic, 2004-03-19, accessed 2005-04-15
• "The Chavs are Coming", The Irish Times 2005-03-23, accessed 2005-04-15
• Bragg, M. 'The Adventure of English', London, Hodder and Stoughton, 2003: 26.

Further reading

• chav on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• HVAC