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Meph751
Advanced Member
United States
1,488 posts
Joined: Dec, 2005
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 Posted - 2008/01/14 : 23:44:02
Just thought I'd post this up for fun! I had to do a 3-4 page paper for my english class on a subculture group... so I chose chavs. You'll have to excuse the awfulness of the paper, as I "researched" and wrote it in the span of about 90 minutes (with a myriad of breaks). Anyways... would love you hear any comments you have... hopefully I didn't make too much stuff up and it's at least mostly accurate 
Matt Slotnick
Subculture Anaylsis
SUPA Block 1
“Man dem jus' got merked by bare people!” Don't understand? What about, “in a bizzle?” Doesn't make sense either? Don't worry—the rest of the world doesn't understand either—unless of course, they're a Chav living in a low income area in the United Kingdom. In this case, they'd understand the former phrase to mean, “my friends just got beat up by a large number of people,” and the latter to mean “see you later.” These are just a few phrases used by the increasingly large number of young British youths conforming to the new trend of being a “chav.” A very new word in terms of mainstream recognition, a chav is recognized by a very distinct fashion sense, a dialect that is all but impossible to understand, and a demeanor that sets them apart from how one would expect a normal adolescent to act.
The most obvious way to recognize a chav is through their outward appearance. The most telling sign that a youth identifies himself as a chav is through the wearing of burberry brand baseball caps, or other such clothing articles bearing its trademark checkered tan design. If not the signature burberry tan hat, it's common to see a New Era brand sport team hat positioned at an awkward angle so that it fulfills none of the original purpose—that is to say, it in no way blocks the sun from the eyes. These items have for a long time been identified with the chav culture, so much so to a point that the company scaled back production in order to distance themselves from the chavs. Another telling sign is the wearing of prominently displayed gold jewelry, that while are eyecatching, are often cheap immitations bought at large store chains such as Argos, and worn only for the flashy effects. It's also very common for a chav to wear a nike or adidas tracksuits—though they definitely do not wear them to gain the benefits a runner would. It's merely part of the style that is completed by the contstant presence of a cigarette in the mouth and perhaps a bottle of cheap, store-brand vodka in hand. This seemingly random assortment of fashions is just that—a random assortment of trends that have no real purpose for being other than tradition. The one commonality between the fashions, however, is their actual low cost yet appearance of high cost—as much of the chav population is very low income and as such cannot afford more.
A second identifying characteristic of chavs is an obsession with hiphop and grime music, as well as a fascination with MC's. Hiphop is a form of music commonly associated with lower income, as well as drug and alcohol use, sex, and other illegal activities. As these are activities commonly engaged in by chavs, it's no strange occurance that they are drawn towards music that promotes the same ideals. The other side of this is the obsession with MC'ing in music—constant talking and rhyming over songs being played. Much of the the structure of the slang used by chavs is similar to that of MC'ing. Forced rhymes, and artificial terms used purely to fall into the correct sytanx, often sacrificing meaning. Another very large part of the musical and cultural identity of chavs is the attendance of raves—at which they do little more than start fights for the sake of it. It's common to hear a chav threaten a random rave-goer or fellow chav in order to provoke a conflict. This too is derived from the culture of presenting a tough, street-wise demeanor.
The final outward observable characteristic is the desire to have a car that appears to be one capable of street-racing. This is a large part of the culture as they take pride in such competitions. Due to the lack of income that most chavs receive, however, these cars are little more than externally modified—and in truth are very cheap and not at all fast. A common example is the buying of a Vauxhall Astra 1.3, the lowest and cheapest of the models, and then purchasing aftermarket badges, exhaust, and body kits that give it the appearance of a much more expensive, and faster, Vauxhall Astra Sport. This is exemplary of the need for nothing more than credibility with their peers, as these upgrades do nothing to the actual performance of the car, only how they are viewed by those on the streets. Like with clothing, chavs pride themselves in the outward appearances of what they possess, not the true worth of them. The street racing appearance of the cars also leads back to the confrontational desires of chavs—wanting always to be seen as the better, more intimidating person.
Another behavioral trair of many chavs is the violent tendancies they show towards those who don't fit their stereotype—especially those who fit an entirely other subculture group, such as immigrants, homosexuals or thoes that listen to rock music. It goes far beyond simply disliking these groups, however. Chav is often referred to jokingly as an acronym for 'Counsil Housing And Violent,' due largely in part to the way they act towards these other groups. Outright violence and vandalism is often directed at minorities and homosexuals for no other reason than that they are 'outsiders' of the main community. These violent tendancies hearken back to the mindset of a “street thug gang” that many of these youths possess. The desire to be “hard,” as they say—that is, to show strength and dominance of others, afraid of nothing, promotes such acts of violence and intimidation.
The last and possibly most unique characteristic of chavs is their rampant use of slang that in many cases is simply entirely fabricated and holds no true meaning other than what they afford to it. Multiple words are often shortened into one, rendering it incapable of being understood by anyone not familiar with the chav slang. Words such as “innit,” used to mean “isn't it” is a very common phrase. In addition, the changing of the pronunciation of many words to create a more “street” sounding one is a common practice. Examples of this include “ting” to mean “thing,” “dem” to mean “them,” and “dey” to mean “they.” Other examples of words used by chavs include “messy,” to indicate a state of intoxication, be it by drugs or alcohol. As such substances are prevalant in chav culture, it's understand that they have much slang based around such things. In the same vein, there are many ways to speak of fighting with chav slang. One such term is “mash,” used in the context of “mashing someone,” as well as “merk,” which is used to mean “beat up.” These words are used to further the group mentality of chavs as outsiders, separating themselves further from the general population. As a group of people wanting to identify themselves as tough and street-saavy, it gives them a way to identify themselves as such.
In a culture that prides itself on idenficication as outsiders of society, its easy to see why they go to so many lengths to seprate themselves both on outward appearance and by language and demeanor. If one were to see a chav, they'd probably think nothing more than “that person is dressed strangely,” but upon further examination one can see the deep and intense distinctions that chavs create between themselves and others. These differentiations create a cultural group with its own unique identity that can easily be identified if you know the basic reasonings and aspirations behind mindset and actions.
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Edited by - Meph751 on 2008/01/14 23:44:34 |
Mental_Adam
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United Kingdom
845 posts
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 01:49:24
OmGz!!!11!!!11
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jenks
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United Kingdom
3,698 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
19 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 03:16:12
Dunno about low income, there's a village near me full of chavs where the houses sell for about 2m ($4m), and I think more people associate chavs with hardcore or DnB rather than hip hop or grime.
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Meph751
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United States
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 03:24:16
damn, really? all the things online i could find associated chavs with a change in the low income classes.
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FingazMc
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United Kingdom
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 06:59:11
quote:
Originally posted by Meph751:
damn, really? all the things online i could find associated chavs with a change in the low income classes.
Id say the original chav did come from poorer backgrounds, but i think it sort of caught on as a trend with richer sub-urban kids and kind of mixed together with the whole "wigger, Ya get meee" bullsh*t. Creating an ASBO loving, old woman mugging, cider drink, yardie talking mutated race of pikeys!
:)
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Edited by - FingazMc on 2008/01/15 07:00:20 |
Future_Shock
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Australia
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 07:49:00
I find it funny that we use the word "lad" in aussie to describe what you call a chav. But a lad in the UK is just a guy. weird.
But yeah its not so much lower class people anyone. Its definitely become a trend with bored rich kids who think they are tough as **** and have lived a hard life. Complete knobs in general.
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novaboy
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Australia
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 07:53:11
quote:
Originally posted by Influx:
I find it funny that we use the word "lad" in aussie to describe what you call a chav. But a lad in the UK is just a guy. weird.
But yeah its not so much lower class people anyone. Its definitely become a trend with bored rich kids who think they are tough as **** and have lived a hard life. Complete knobs in general.
arnt lads the guys who dress in striped polo and act all hard and start fights in NSW especially at raves.
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Future_Shock
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Australia
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Joined: Apr, 2007
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 07:57:41
Striped shirts, the bum bags, white hats, earrings and people who generally think theyre tough as shit, but only when theyre with 10 other people.
Yep. Lad = Chav.
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__CMC__
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United Kingdom
593 posts
Joined: Aug, 2007
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 09:09:47
quote:
Originally posted by Influx:
Striped shirts, the bum bags, white hats, earrings and people who generally think theyre tough as shit, but only when theyre with 10 other people.
Yep. Lad = Chav.
Just out of principle if i saw some one wearing a bum bag i would have to give them a slap:P
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novaboy
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Australia
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 09:25:25
theres no lads in scotland.
culture of course :P
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IN CHARGE OF THE HARDWARS MYSPACE, STRICTLY VISIT WWW.MYSPACE.COM/HARDWARS
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Smoogie
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United Kingdom
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 Posted - 2008/01/15 : 09:50:15
I think chavism is slowly dyeing out! There has only been alot of focus on chavs because of the internet (websites like chavscum.co.uk ect) which made people notcie them more but they were around in the 1990s and had similar in the '80s! Where did the present chavs come from? They didnt come out of thin air! Most of the previous generation's chavs gave birth to our present chavs and the the fashion caught on which made people notice them alot! Its getting old now though...
Also its not just poor backgrounds where chavs come from althought here does seem to be a trend where alot of chavs tend to live on estates not eeveryone on the estate will be a chav as I met alot of people who come from areas like that who seem nothing like that at all lol
Rich chavs (or at least 'middle class') are funny though as they try to be both 'ghetto' and also 'prep' at the same time lol In Bournemouth we have the Summerbee wannabies, these are kids from averge-middle class backgrounds who go to what used to be Summberbee school and try to copy the kids from the real 'ghettos' of Bournemouth, most are wosses on their own but with their mates they try to act mouthy!
The thing is there are no real ghettos in Bounremouth and there has never been any tower blocks (except the luxery retirement arpartments) and most of the estates aren't that bad either! I live near one and it has a lot of green areas, a good bus service and you really see very few chavs around! Its the same in Poole, alot of wannabies but compared to some places both towns are really chav free! Southampton seems to have a few more rougher areas but even then im sure that they aren't that bad once you get used to them...
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__CMC__
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United Kingdom
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 10:32:15
quote:
Originally posted by novaboy:
theres no lads in scotland.
culture of course :P
Don't know if that was meant to be a sly dig at me but lucky for you i feel in a good mood so i'll let it slide:P
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ruroken
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United States
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Joined: Nov, 2007
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 10:33:55
quote:
Originally posted by Smoogie:
Rich chavs (or at least 'middle class') are funny though as they try to be both 'ghetto' and also 'prep' at the same time lol In Bournemouth we have the Summerbee wannabies, these are kids from averge-middle class backgrounds who go to what used to be Summberbee school and try to copy the kids from the real 'ghettos' of Bournemouth, most are wosses on their own but with their mates they try to act mouthy!
Yeah sounds just like the "ghetto" kids around here. By ghetto I mean the rich white kids living in suburbs because I think the black kids probably stopped using that word once the white kids did.
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Meathead
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United Kingdom
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 12:12:35
quote:
Originally posted by __CMC__:
quote:
Originally posted by Influx:
Striped shirts, the bum bags, white hats, earrings and people who generally think theyre tough as shit, but only when theyre with 10 other people.
Yep. Lad = Chav.
Just out of principle if i saw some one wearing a bum bag i would have to give them a slap:P
yeh i dont think the chavs from england meetin the lads from aus would end well for the bum bag boys. 
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simdog
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Sweden
457 posts
Joined: Dec, 2007
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 12:18:21
well i wear striped polo shirts but only cause i like them and i occasionally use a bum bag at a rave because i cant dance with a back pack and my stuff wont fit in a pocket. i'm not a lad, i just like stripy shirts and not haveing a backpack on while i dance. but i think you are all forgeting the white tilted hat, i think thats the best way to spot a lad
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__CMC__
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United Kingdom
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Posted - 2008/01/15 : 12:44:33
quote:
Originally posted by Meathead:
quote:
Originally posted by __CMC__:
quote:
Originally posted by Influx:
Striped shirts, the bum bags, white hats, earrings and people who generally think theyre tough as shit, but only when theyre with 10 other people.
Yep. Lad = Chav.
Just out of principle if i saw some one wearing a bum bag i would have to give them a slap:P
yeh i dont think the chavs from england meetin the lads from aus would end well for the bum bag boys.
I think we all know what your trying to insinuate but i am not English and i am not a chav
quote:
Chav, also Charv/Charver and Chavette (pronounced /ʧæv/, with 'ch' as in chair) are mainly derogatory slang terms in the United Kingdom for a subcultural stereotype fixated on fashions such as imitation gold, poorly made jewellery and fake designer clothing (often Burberry, combined with elements of working class British street fashion. The term appeared in mainstream dictionaries in 2005.[1][2]
Only thing that i have in common with chav's is i like designer clothes although i would never wear burberry and never wear fake clothes, chav's couldn't afford what i wear:)
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