Chav

Chav (/ˈtʃæv/ CHAV) is a pejorative epithet used in Britain to describe a particular stereotype. The word was popularised in the first decade of the 21st century by the British mass media to refer to an anti-social youth subculture in the United Kingdom. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "chav" as an informal British derogatory, meaning "a young lower-class person who displays brash and loutish behaviour and wears real or imitation designer clothes". The derivative chavette has been used to refer to females, and the adjectives "chavish" and "chavtastic" have been used in relation to items designed for or suitable for use by chavs.

Etymology

Opinion is divided on the origin of the term. Chav may have its origins in the Romani word chavi, meaning "child". The word has existed since at least the 19th century; lexicographer Eric Partridge mentions it in his 1950 dictionary of slang and unconventional English, giving its date of origin as ca. 1860.

The word in its current pejorative usage is recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary as first used in a Usenet forum in 1998 and first used in a newspaper in 2002. By 2005 the term became widespread in its use as to refer to a type of anti-social, uncultured youth, who wear a lot of flashy jewellery, white trainers, baseball caps, and sham designer clothes; the girls expose a lot of midriff.