Billie Piper (mmmmm, Rose) was recently interviewed by the BBC and talked about Rose. Why would she do that now? If you don’t know, then I suggest clicking away to some site somewhere where they’ve never heard of Doctor Who.
She uses enough British slang in the interview that I’m not exactly sure what she means all the time. I guess I wasn’t in England long enough to learn the language. Cheeky monkey.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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May 31st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’ll avoid any spoilers but tonights episode was one of the best yet – looking forward to the resolution of the two-part story next week.
Plus it’s another solid Stephen Moffat episode, which bodes well for him taking over the franchise.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Have to wait until September for the new season in Canada. Alas.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Chav means sort of working class, you might say white trash, but it’s less derogatory than that. I can’t see any other British slang in there though.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Matt J: what’s a “posh bird?”
I just watched the ending of season 3 via Netflix…fantastic! I’m glad Moffat is taking over; I think all the episodes he wrote were excellent. Too bad I’ll be waiting a while for the DVD set to be available on Netflix, though.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Bolshy (I would spell it bolshie) means rebellious or feisty, showing attitude. From Bolshevik, I think.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:01 pm
From the English Slang Dictionary http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/p.htm
posh Adj. Of or belonging to the upper classes. {informal}
chav * Noun. A person, usually of poorly educated, working class origin, who dresses casually in designer sportswear and vulgar jewellery. Chavs are generally viewed as an ignorant under-class with a propensity for criminal or loutish behaviour. Usually derog. [Orig. South-west. Popular from early 2000s]
bolshie Adj. Angrily provocative. Originating from the socialist revolutionaries the Bolsheviks.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I thought I’d volunteer on the slang front being partly English.
posh birds – rich women
bolshy – rebellious, cheeky, stubborn
chav – see Matt J’s definition, but also there’s a wikipedia entry…
Was there anything else? Maybe some words I didn’t even recognise as slang but that Americans still wouldn’t be familiar with?
May 31st, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I take it you mean ‘chav’ ? A chav is a term used to classify people, much like ‘preppy’ or ‘goth’. The term refers to a lower-class type person.
Here you go BA: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chav
May 31st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I remember Piper used the term “chav” before, in the episode where she’s “possessed” by Cassandra.
She looks in the mirror and exclaims “I’m a chav!”
She was quite the actress in “Who”. And she’s only a couple years younger than I!
BTW, Discovery is on her way to the ISS. Cheers!
May 31st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Yeah, she’s a good actor; Yeah she looks pretty hot; Attractive as Rose? Not really, to quote George Hrab, “I want brains and a body, is that so wrong?”
Sarah-Jane from the old series, Martha from the new series or Gwen from Torchwood are all miles ahead in intelligence, and are therefore much more attractive to me.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Try to imagine … Kevin (K-Fed), on welfare, and you pretty much have a ‘Chav’. Obnoxiousness is key.
In Australia the closest thing we have is called a ‘bogan’, usually low income, just as obnoxious,but with less bling and more beer.
I am half ‘bogan’, half ‘nerd’, so I can flame my half brothers and sisters ;p … but I don’t drive a Holden Commodore …. yet. ;p
May 31st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
CC: [cough]BitTorrent[/cough]
May 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Chav is actually an acronym for Council Housing and Violent.
Posh is an acronym for Port Out, Starboard Home.
Blimey, guvner, don’t you Tanks know nuffink, or what?
May 31st, 2008 at 6:02 pm
“CC: [cough]BitTorrent[/cough]”
Maybe that’s an option for people outside the US, but I can’t afford to defend myself in court against the RIAA, so the only thing I download via Torrent is Linux ISOs and such. Yeah, the odds of getting pegged are slim, but still.
I’d rather contribute to the financial incentive for BBC to keep making Who episodes anyway. If the BBC offered me an option to view it over the internet for some nominal fee, I would, but alas…they haven’t got around to that yet, so I rent.
May 31st, 2008 at 6:42 pm
These are actually backronyms (ie the word came into use first then the phrase was made up from the letters) rather than true acronyms such as RADAR or LASER.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Chav comes from Chatham, a town in Kent on the south-east of London, where chavs are plentiful, fake Burberry-clad and sparkly.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:32 pm
[quote]Chav comes from Chatham, a town in Kent on the south-east of London, where chavs are plentiful, fake Burberry-clad and sparkly.[/quote]
I think this is a too-neat retrospective as well, like the backronyms.
“Charva” or “Charver” in Geordieland is a word that was definitely around for many years before I had ever heard of the word “Chav”.
I seriously doubt Newcastle kids adopted a word based on Chatham(!) – I personally think the Gypsy origin theory is the most credible, not least since British English is supposed to have picked up chiv, radge, gadge, cushty, lollipop from Roma too, as well as many others.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:53 pm
How can posh be a backronym? It was coined by a rich oik who wanted the best cabin on ships sailing to and from India, hence the term.
—
If BA doesn’t understand “Chav”, what did he make of the first phrase uttered by Lady Cassandra upon inhabiting Rose’s body in “New Earth”?
Namely, “Oh my god! I’m a CHAV!”
May 31st, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I heard a language historian on PBS say that ‘posh’ was from a gypsy term Potch, meaning expensive or luxurious, from Potch krona – half crown (coin). But ‘port out, starboard home’ will put you on the shaded side of the ship, going to India by way of Suez.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:27 am
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/posh
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chav
June 1st, 2008 at 3:03 am
Mark L — ‘Posh’ birds don’t have to be rich – many are from families with little or no money.
And POSH standing for Port Out Starboard Home is something of an Urban Myth…
June 1st, 2008 at 3:30 am
“Chav is actually an acronym for Council Housing and Violent.”
Possible, but I have my doubts about that explanation.
Geordies (from the North East) used the term ‘Charver’ first.
It seems quite close to the Roma gypsy word for boy.
Whereas in Liverpool they’re scallies.
I can’t say I’ve been happy with the way the latest series has been going. Last night’s Moffat-penned episode was an improvement, but it’s just not up to the standard of earlier series.
Tennant is getting through it on adrenalin, extra-strength hairgel and over-acting. The Donna-Doctor vibe just doesn’t work and every episode seems to be an opportunity to introduce a star character (like Alex Kingston last night), a spin-off or an opportunity for some salacious back-story or other.
It really needs to be brought down to earth with a bang…..
June 1st, 2008 at 4:47 am
Bassmanpete said:
“These are actually backronyms (ie the word came into use first then the phrase was made up from the letters) rather than true acronyms such as RADAR or LASER.”
Although, as an interesting aside, the 1992 Longman English dictionary contradicts itself by using “Radar” as an example of an acronym, where it defines “acronym” as a word formed from the initial letters of other words. (Radar is an acronym of RAdio Direction And Ranging). Not every acronym is formed exclusively from initial letters.
June 1st, 2008 at 5:07 am
bassmanpete
Chav is actually an acronym for Council Housing and Violent.
Posh is an acronym for Port Out, Starboard Home.
These are actually backronyms (ie the word came into use first then the phrase was made up from the letters) rather than true acronyms such as RADAR or LASER.
You mean like Frictionally Initiated Release of Energy?
(use the Caps…)
J/?
June 1st, 2008 at 6:28 am
My favourite is WINE: Wine Is Not an Emulator
June 1st, 2008 at 6:29 am
Yes, I must say I was a little disappointed with last night’s episode as well. The plot set-up (dodgy shadows in a library) was very promising, but the episode didn’t have that je ne c’est quoi of high-points like Blink. It is possible that I expected too much, and the story may well be saved in the second part shown next week. I just hope it’s not Daleks again.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:54 am
re: Pieter
Definitely, I hope it’s not Daleks. I love the Daleks, but how many freaking cults survived? They need to create a new long-term enemy, rather than only relying on the Daleks and Cybermen
June 1st, 2008 at 8:18 am
My kids and I LOVED the first part of Silence In The Library. A classic Moffat! My daughter is now afraid of the dark for the first time in her life (which shows that The Doctor can still weave his scary magic. I spent my childhood watching from behind the sofa) I have to admit that I was double checking every shadow too! It also has a classic line in “It doesn’t do wood!?”
June 1st, 2008 at 9:17 am
Re the origin of Chav – my father in law remembers the word Chavi being used to describe the same sort of person during and shortly after the second world war in Fulham/Chelsea (before they were posh) so an imported name seems far more likely.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:14 am
Mehhh. I didn’t like Rose, the Doctor isn’t supposed to have romance in his life and I found her annoying..
June 1st, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Meh… decent episode yesterday, but so far the weakest of Moffat’s stories. Then again, as only the first half, it’s hard to judge. I think I have The Girl and what happens to the “saved” pretty much figured out. And is it just me, or does anyone else have a feeling that River Song’s anachronistic relationship with the Doctor is a clue to the finale?
Anyway, fair so far. The conclusion will make it or break it, but I don’t see SM winning any awards this year.
Definitely looking forward to Rose’s return though. Hope she’s used effectively, because it could be a great cap to this “chapter” of the Doctor’s adventures and clean the slate for the upcoming specials and Moffat’s turn at the helm. Then again, with all the other people that are supposedly in it, it could be a real crowded mess of a finale.
Alan, I doubt that the Recording Industry Association of America is too concerned about people downloading UK TV shows.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I actually dreamed last night of a Dalek chasing me through a library.
Moffat has much to answer for.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I don’t think Series 4 is the complete and total utter disaster that some people have made it out to be. In an interview with Doctor Who magazine, Russell T. Davies said he wanted to go lighter this series because he felt that the Series 3 finale was “too dark”. I think he may have gone too far in the opposite direction and made Series 4 a bit too fluffy and entertaining. Nothing wrong with a bit of pathos and depth to Doctor Who – it’s what the show was built on, after all.
Thoroughly enjoyed this week’s episode. No, it doesn’t measure up to Blink but it was still a lot of fun to watch. I’ve always been a bit creeped out by shadows so the Nashta Verada was the perfect choice for a new Who creature.
June 1st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Has anyone else noticed that in Moffat-penned episodes, the first person in the ensemble guest cast to die is always a pretty young woman? It’s like he thinks that such a character’s death is the most shocking, so he puts that upfront to establish the villain’s a bona fide nasty.
Now, I’ve opening a book on who dies and who lives at the end of next week’s episode. Those with a TARDIS who already know need not apply.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:49 am
Re Chav.
Chav is only really used “Down Sarf” (southern England), up here in the NWest of England/Liverpool area we refer to Chavs as Scallies
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scally
”i just got asked ‘gizzz a fag’ by that scall”
“ha ha, look at that bunch of scalls”
And Posh bird would be pronounced “Posh Berd”
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:33 am
“Chav” is widely used in Scotland too… “Scallie” is regionally-specific.
As to the origins, I believe it actually derives from the Romany word for “child” (chavi). It certainly tends to cluster with other Romany-derived slang, such as “bari” and “gadgi”. As in “that chav’s a bari gagdi”.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:09 am
@Dunc
I thought they were called Neds up in Scotland. Well in Glasgow at least.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:21 am
“Ned” and “chav” are used more-or-less interchangeably. “Chav” carries stronger Burberry associations.
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
“Alan, I doubt that the Recording Industry Association of America is too concerned about people downloading UK TV shows.”
Actually, the company (can’t remember who it is at the moment) that distribute the US versions of the DVD sets is most likely a member of the RIAA.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:22 am
There is no doubt whatsoever that chav is an abbreviation of the romani word for child or lad,ie,chavvie.”Chaval”is a slightly different form of the same word originally used by spanish gipsies(and now by most spaniards)with exactly the same meaning.Personally i doubt a romany origin for “posh”as used to mean rich or stuck up,as in romany posh means half,as in “posh rat”meaning” half blood”,ie half gipsy,rat being blood in romany.Sorry to be pedantic,but its really quite irritating to see the same old contrived false explanations blithely trotted out as fact by the spectacularly ill-informed Kimpatsu.
August 16th, 2009 at 1:18 am
y’r really nice guz