Supreme

Charvers too, not to be confused with chav, the big dings!

2 Likes

What’s the relationship between ‘charver’ and ‘chav’? I’ve read sociologists saying ‘charver’ is where the term ‘chav’ came from or that the north east were early adopters of the term ‘chav’ because people say ‘charver’, but that doesn’t seem quite right. The two words have slightly different meanings to me. ‘Chav’ is a catch-all term to describe a kind of sneered at culture - tracksuits, bling, single mums etc. ‘Charver’ was more the young men who would want to kick your head in for skating, like a Blinky said.

2 Likes

Proper belta short doco on makina and north east dance music there, featuring a load of legend charvas. Worth a watch for sure! I actually love loads of that music too. Bigup the New Monkey

1 Like

.

1 Like

Haha, he does my head in even though I do believe in social justice whatever that looks like. He’s just well annoying.

2 Likes

I live in Carlisle. And chav would be tracksuit socks tucked in stereotype. A charva could be like mate. Or deeks at this charva. They mean different things. I was work the other night and security guard rings to book on and he called me marra and charva within the 30 second phone call.

1 Like

I said not to be confused with chav in my original post! I was talking about different types too.

1 Like

In Newark, where they have their own bonkers language, a chavvy is just a guy, for example, “some chavvy in the pub”.

Dammit, totally sold out.

No wonder. Cheapest big TNF jacket yet?

TNF coats in Estonia are useless, they’re too thin. And I already have an old Nuptse and Canada Goose. Wanted the pants. Never mind, could do with saving the money tbh!

You aren’t saving the money when you’ll end up spending the same amount on something not as good.

Be friends with somebody who skates for Vans (or get on Vans) and enjoy 50% off TNF from their shop…

Pretty sure ‘charver’ is Romani in origin and means something along the lines of prostitute.
There are a lot of Romani origin words that have slipped into common usage (at least regionally).
Chav is probably somehow connected to that but there have always been the ‘council house and violent’ etc justifications for it.
Either way, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a nasty word used to demonise the working class. Its usage became prominent once class discourse moved from OG stratas (upper/middle/working) and added ‘lower class’ or ‘underclass’ and thus carries with it all the inherent prejudice associated with those terms.

Very similar to the associations around Gopnik in slavic culture.

Just had a look around - here’s another Romani-origin word: Chavie - a member of a youth subculture (from cha = “child”)
Mush - colloquial meaning a man, a bloke, from Romani mush meaning man.

1 Like

Mush is used a lot where I am.
Nothing negative, nearest equivalent would be mate.

When I was a younger teenager (12,13,14), we called the kinds of people who dressed in sportswear, had trackies tucked into socks and were usually hostile to skateboarders ‘Townies’. Which is weird because I’ve never found another region in the UK that used that phrase and in America a Townie is a more of a east-coast term for someone who still lives in the area that they grew up in, usually blue collar but more towards the white trash end of the spectrum.

It was only as an older teenager around 2005/2006 that the word ‘Chav’ replaced Townie in our terminology but it didn’t always have class connotations (though it often did). I knew lots of ‘Chavs’ at high school who came from economically secure middle class families. It was more reflective of a fashion choice and mindset that maybe came along with it

2 Likes

Townie is defiantly a word that gets used around here. Hawkers (Travellers) and Townies have always had rivalry here (especially in the 90s). Fighting, ect. That’s a Townie pub, that’s a traveller pub, keep out of them, ect…

Yep, I saw this, even saw it with some skaters; stopped skating, bought the appropriate gear and worked hard to change how they spoke. Hilarious stuff but I guess most of it was driven from not wanting to get beaten up so I wouldn’t want to hate on that too much.

1 Like

We said Townies here too - in West Yorkshire.
See also ‘Dressers’ but that came from LUFC Under-5’s footy speak.

1 Like

Dressers everywhere.

We had neds (most likely from ‘ne’er-do-well’, and not ‘non-educated delinquent’ since you wouldn’t say ‘non’educated’ anyway) and bams (covered plenty) but they only really exist on the outskirts now. It’s all tight polo shirts and Vans now, unless you’re a junkie in which case it’s SuperDry.

It’s weird at the football, seeing all these folk dressed exactly the same all shuffling in. Literally the same haircut, tight polo, black leggings (ripped or otherwise), Vans, black puffa jacket with the thin puffs and fluffy llama hair, or a big fake quiff like in that picture Hugo posted somewhere. Then the dudes in skintight suits because they’re got big arms and little chicken legs.

1 Like

Screen Shot 2020-05-22 at 13.05.44

3 Likes