It has been oodles of time since I last awarded my prestigious Prats of The Week Award, therefore without further ado I hereby award it to The Fabian Society.For why?
For being instrumental in the creation of the Labour Party in the 19th century?
Indeed that would be justification in itself, but no.
The Fabian Society has called for the word "Chav" to be banned.
Prats!
The term is widely used is slang for a young person of low social status, often wearing designer sportswear.
The Fabian Society doesn't like that, Tom Hampson (Fabian Society editorial director) believes that the term betrays a deep level of "class hatred" and is "deeply offensive to a largely voiceless group".
All very well, but was it not the Labour Party that used "class hatred" in a recent bye election whereby they categorised the Tory candidate as a "toff". Labour got their arses well and truly kicked for that.
Surely though, calling someone a "toff" is also an example of class hatred?
Why does the Fabian Society not call for that to be banned too?
Answer, because they love to wallow in class hatred themselves.
Simon Donald, the co-founder of Viz Magazine, comes up with a far more direct response to this bullshit; he said the word was meant to be an insult, and that was fine.
We are still allowed, almost, to insult each other.
Hampson said:
"Some uses of some words fall below the threshold of acceptability and some are definitely above it.
Chav is way above that threshold. It is deeply offensive to a largely voiceless group and - especially when used in normal middle-class conversation or on national TV - it betrays a deep and revealing level of class hatred.
It is distancing, turning the chav into the kind of feral beast that exists only in tabloid headlines".
So there you have it, in Hampson's world there are no feral beasts on the streets of Britain, the "yoof" disorder that we have read about and the gangs on the streets are in fact totally made up.
Tony Thorne, a language consultant for Kings College London, noted that chavs often refer to themselves as Chavs.
You can no more ban the use of a word than you can dis-invent the wheel, unless of course you are a believer in the concept of "wordspeak" and a police state as described in "1984".
Evidently the Fabians are believers in such a state.
The Fabians, well deserving Prats of The Week!
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I love the word Chav....I use it often as it is polite enough to use in mixed company.
ReplyDeleteAnother favourite was Pleb.
If Nanny is allowed to ban Chav....What will be next....What other words does she not like? Pikey? She has already banned the use of many words we used to use years ago......
We have kids killing each other on our streets, we have house prices falling, we have fuel prices going up, we have firms going broke and all Labour can worry about is the word Chav....What a bunch of Paper Hats!!
Note for our American visitors:
Paper Hat....Cockney slang for Prats.
I do not condone the term Chav at all. It is sexist to start with, implying that only males may be of a socially excluded nature - why no Chavettes we ask at our meeting of cross-gender challegned parents.
ReplyDeleteNo, I prefer the term socially deprived, educationally challenged, workshy little sponging bastards - oh God, sorry one too many organic white nettle wines with the lentil curry there led to that slip, now where's the delete button
Anon:
ReplyDeleteI don't think people are more sensitive now....It strikes me that a whole industry has grown up around PC causes and these people are keen to feel sensitive or offended on our behalf. If they did not find something to be offended by, they would have no role.
The problem as I see it is that, many of the so called equality/diversity groups and individuals are the most prejudice of all....
Whatever happened to "Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me?"
As it happens Iain Dale has parodied the Fabians by re-writing their script to refer to the word "toff":-
ReplyDeletehttp://iaindale.blogspot.com/2008/07/ban-word-toff.html
One of the worst aspects of the earnest socialists is their, well, earnestness. The road to this country's ruin has been paved with their good intentions and the many and multi-faceted laws of unintended consequences that have followed them. Read any socialist blog and it is all about interfering in the lives of others, supposedly to make a better world, with earnest lefties disagreeing earnestly about the best way to socially engineer this or that aspect of our lives.
They never actually experienced the crucible of the great socialist experiments which engulfed Eastern Europe and were eventually spat out, so they still live in the deluded world of the hammer and sickle, determined to preach their perverted form of progressive politics and push their noses into every nook and cranny of public and private life. As each experiment goes horribly wrong, rather than admit they are actually the problem rather than the solution, they just turn to another cause to pursue or another imaginary dragon to slay. And the long, turgid, hand-wringing, earnestness of their endeavours is invariably worse than the dragon itself.
ASWW,
ReplyDeleteSurely sticking to the monosex "chav" is less sexist than splitting the definition between that and "chavette"? Or have I missed a turn and twist in the political correctness manual's updates pages?
Perhaps we might refer to them as the 'leisure dressing' class, or might that be too broadly interpreted?
How about "Cap and Trade" group since that seems to sum up the sartorial signature and perhaps the nature of any paid activities they may get up to.
Grant
I tend to give the benefit of the doubt until evidence suggests otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Fabian Society, the evidence suggests otherwise.
As for the guy in the video:
He’s showing minimal singing talent. [What’s new?]
He’s showing minimal musical talent. [Not the first, won’t be the last.]
His dress sense is cringe-worthy. [Just like me at his age.]
His backing group exhibits similar levels of musical talent.
Etc, etc.
In addition:
He’s trying!
He seems to have confidence.
He’s making the most of the singing talents he and his crew don’t have.
He’s successfully using cutting-edge methods to get himself noticed.
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of meeting him on a train one day when he has made it to the top.
The Derek Hatton Rolex advert comes to mind (he of ‘kicked out of office after nearly destroying Liverpool’s economy with Marxist policies’ fame).
The setting is a top jeweller’s shop in Bond Street.
Hatton: “Do you have one of those really expensive Rolex watches with the encrusted-diamond hands, emerald figures and jewel-lever oysterlock bracelet?”
Shop owner: “No Sir. We do not.”
Hatton: “Well I do! Look!”
The only group that people are allowed, nay encouraged, to insult these days are smokers, always prefaced by 'dirty, filthy'
ReplyDeleteAs a dirty, filthy smoker, I was the object of dirty, filthy looks in the park one day when sitting at one of the three outdoor cafe tables, from... a chav! I've never felt so insulted in all my life!!
PS he wasn't wearing chav uniform - he was an aspirational chav in long shorts. He became a chav in my mind when he gave his dog his ice cream to lick then licked it himself...
Quite right that the term "chav" should be banned.
ReplyDeleteIt is typical of the London-centric bias of this country, attempting to force their own parochial vocabulary on the rest of the country
The correct term is for the tracksuit-clad, feral scum is "scally".
Manc,
ReplyDeleteHaving spent a little time in the centre of England's third largest city for the first time (as far as I can recall) on Tuesday afternoon I note that the scallies seem to divest themselves of the tracksuit uniform in the 'summer'. Or so it seemed.
Presumably the necessity to be 'painted' and have such decoration visible takes precedence whenever it is not raining and the temperature is above 10C?
Presumably the effect is similar in the south. We wouldn't want this to become a sectarian differentiator would we!
Grant
This is where the state stops being a nanny and becomes a bully.
ReplyDelete"deeply offensive to a largely voiceless group".
ReplyDelete1. Chavs, whether singular or as a group haven't the mental acumen to be 'offended'
2. Voiceless my arse. You can hear them ranting and raving into the wee small hours on any estate after they've had their nightly ration of Carly Spesh/White Lightning/drugs of choice.
3. The only useful societal function they could possibly serve is if they were turned into fertiliser. Not a long process as they are shite already.