The word ‘chav’ is a weapon of class hatred and should be banned, Left-wing academics claim.
The Fabian Society believes the term, a common derogatory expression for a brash white working-class person, is offensive.
It wants to silence those who use it to describe loutish types in Burberry baseball caps, scraped-back hairdos and clanking fake gold ‘bling’ jewellery.
The obnoxious teenage single mother Vicky Pollard, played by Matt Lucas in the BBC comedy Little Britain, is a prime example.
Tom Hampson, The Fabian Society’s editorial director, said the word chav must be banished from enlightened circles.
It should not be acceptable to anyone who believes they are ‘progressive’ in their politics, he said.
‘You cannot consider yourself of the Left and use the word,’ he added.
Use of the word, he continued, ‘Is declasse. Stupid cunts.’
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 6:34 pm #
I see their point. Too similar to shiv. Heehehhehe.
Comment by RR Ryan on 7/15 @ 6:41 pm #
Or calf.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/15 @ 6:45 pm #
One must reflect similarly upon the word royal I would think.
Comment by Mikey NTH on 7/15 @ 6:47 pm #
Huh? Sorry – white middle-class American here, only derogatory terms I know for working class are considered terms of art for the rarified precincts of the Beeb.
Comment by Lamontyoubigdummy on 7/15 @ 6:57 pm #
It’s ‘a-LOO-minum.’
Fucking wankers.
Comment by Log Cabin on 7/15 @ 7:01 pm #
Ah, yes! The highly tolerant left, the guardians of free speech rights, once again instructing the stupid common man on what is acceptable speech.
The leftards must have no mirrors at all.
Comment by Ouroboros on 7/15 @ 7:07 pm #
The whole issue of class based subculture in Britain is fascinating.. (Chavs, Yobs, Casual Hooligan Firms, etc) When Sacha Baron Cohen did Ali G he was criticized for being racist and poking fun at blacks… His response was that he wasn’t poking fun at blacks.. he was poking fun at the Brits that emulated the American Gangsta Black culture that they’d never actually been exposed to.. (Sacha must be well travelled to know that the gangstaz aren’t as cool and noble in real life as they are in the movies)
Articles on the subject tend to skirt the issue of race and the Chav culture.. Is it primarily a white thang or non-white or a mixture of races? How bout Yobs.. Poor working whites or is the term used for all working class youth? (that don’t wear Burberry)
Wish they’d have just stuck with Mods and Rockers.. I could keep them straight then..
Comment by Ouroboros on 7/15 @ 7:10 pm #
Aluminum = a LOO min ee um
Leicester = LEST er
Sade = SHAR day
Brit talk.. Follows no known rules.
Go figure…
Comment by apotheosis on 7/15 @ 7:18 pm #
There are, in fact, rules. With examples:
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/kibology/biscuit
Comment by Techie on 7/15 @ 7:19 pm #
What about “Gumby”?
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/15 @ 7:21 pm #
Now it seems they’ve all become Rods and Mockers.
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 7:23 pm #
And it’s ‘vee-ut-nuh-meez’. One ‘n’ and one ‘m’.
Maybe not a wanker thing, but the point should be made.
Comment by Ouroboros on 7/15 @ 7:25 pm #
I love the Brits.. For such a seemingly overly- PC group they have a rich and varied collection or race/class derogatory slang terms.. Chavs, Yobs, Pikeys, Casuals… and they way quicker to speak them out loud than Americans…
Brad Pitt – Snatch – Hyper-Pike
Comment by dre on 7/15 @ 7:30 pm #
The Fabian Society is a British intellectual socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of Social democracy via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the nineteenth century and continuing up to World War I. The society laid many of the foundations of the Labour Party and subsequently affected the policies of states emerging from the decolonisation of the British Empire, especially India. The society is still in existence today and forms a vanguard “think tank” of the centre-left New Labour movement. It is one of fifteen socialist societies affiliated to the Labour Party
Comment by dre on 7/15 @ 7:31 pm #
Liberal Fascism!
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 7/15 @ 7:53 pm #
- Whats with all these socialist cults? Is it something the swells “do” when their lives are so completely devoid of meaning and purpose, its either join a Socialistic movement or just sit and listen to the sound of their own breathing?
- I can’t imagine being that disinterested, or having that much time on my hands.
Comment by MlR on 7/15 @ 8:00 pm #
“Whats with all these socialist cults? Is it something the swells “do†when their lives are so completely devoid of meaning and purpose, its either join a Socialistic movement or just sit and listen to the sound of their own breathing?”
Secular religion.
Comment by psycho... on 7/15 @ 8:04 pm #
No one but “middle class” leftists use it anymore. The word on the street is “Asbo,” a government-invented “derogatory expression for a brash white working-class person.” Fabians — always late.
He lied. At best, it’s an excuse for his being a shitty impressionist. As racists tend to be.
Yes.
Asbo.
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 8:12 pm #
- I can’t imagine being that disinterested, or having that much time on my hands.
HA! I would have said that not too long ago, but having unexpectedly lost my job of 17 years I have so much time!
I’m going to try really hard not to annoy people, but I’ve had a few beers so you can’t really hold me to that!
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/15 @ 8:16 pm #
We’re glad to have you back, lp.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 7/15 @ 8:55 pm #
- lunar sweets…. where yah been? Sorry to hear about the job thing.
Comment by Ric Locke on 7/15 @ 8:59 pm #
Fabians have been around for a long time. They predate Marx, even.
Their membership has always been drawn from the upper classes, but not from the very top. Second sons, children of rich industrialists, that sort of thing. They can be most easily understood as usurpers — things will be so much better if the people in charge are deposed in favor of them, because they promise to rule kindly.
Regards,
Ric
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/15 @ 9:00 pm #
Oh, wow. I thought they were fans of that crooner.
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 9:23 pm #
Goodness I’m sorry too. I haven’t been unemployed since I was 14. I feel pretty useless.
And really in need of some laughs!
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 7/15 @ 9:37 pm #
- Well what can I say…When I’m down I just take a viagra…
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 9:44 pm #
heehee!
Hmmmm. I’d give it some thought but I no longer have insurance.
I do have some very friendly contacts in my inbox offering to hook me up!
Comment by Gray on 7/15 @ 9:54 pm #
What kind of car does a chav drive?
A Chavrolet.
In Scotland, they are known as ‘neds’.
“Mah wee lad ‘ees a fookin ned, ya ken?”
And my favorite (I actually heard this exchange between my friend and her ‘relations’):
Relation: “My Pa is retirin’ jest th’ noo.”
Friend: “How th’ fook d’ya retire from th’ fookin dole?!”
Relations (indignant): “He’s no’ gettin’ “th’ fookin dole” he’s a pensioner th’ noo, ye ken?”
Bonnie Scotland: It’s like an Indian Reservation for pale white people….
Comment by RTO Trainer on 7/15 @ 10:21 pm #
LP, what kind of job did you do?
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 10:31 pm #
I worked for a small software development firm that specialized in newspaper and magazine advertising and newspaper circulation.
The Tribune Co. was our bread and butter for the last several years.
Not much hiring in that industry right now!
Comment by RTO Trainer on 7/15 @ 10:35 pm #
I work with software developers. If you’d like, I’d pass on a resume for you.
rtoDOTtrainerATgmailDOTcom
Comment by lunarpuff on 7/15 @ 10:37 pm #
Oh Dear God is there any way to edit comments? I need to take a line out.
I still need references!
Comment by Karl on 7/15 @ 10:41 pm #
I had to take Contracts from a prof who was still into Fabian socialism, even after the end of the Cold War.
Comment by RTO Trainer on 7/15 @ 10:48 pm #
Dan could edit that for you.
Oh, Dan!…
Comment by Lamontyoubigdummy on 7/15 @ 10:54 pm #
“Their membership has always been drawn from the upper classes”…
With this speech thing, it just sounds like they just want everyone as miserable as they are. You know like, “If Im not allowed to refer to my servants as ‘ethnics,’ then you can’t say ‘chav.’
Comment by vincent on 7/16 @ 12:13 am #
#18 psycho,
ASBO is short for Antisocial behaviour order.
I thought the word on the street was that it is the collective noun for a bunch of chavs?
As in an ASBO of chavs.
Comment by McGehee on 7/16 @ 7:45 am #
Just as long as we don’t start hearing about dimpled chavs and pregnant chavs…
Comment by Dan Collins on 7/16 @ 8:53 am #
Which line, lp?
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