Comments on: Billie Piper talks Who

By: affignfemia

affignfemia — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:18:48 +0000

y’r really nice guz

By: Tobias

Tobias — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:22:53 +0000

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.

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:21:21 +0000

“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.

By: Dunc

Dunc — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:21:05 +0000

“Ned” and “chav” are used more-or-less interchangeably. “Chav” carries stronger Burberry associations.

By: JamesW

JamesW — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:09:41 +0000

@Dunc
I thought they were called Neds up in Scotland. Well in Glasgow at least.

By: Dunc

Dunc — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:33:28 +0000

“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”.

By: Alan K

Alan K — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:49:13 +0000

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”

By: Kimpatsu

Kimpatsu — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:08:01 +0000

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.

By: Spacehamster

Spacehamster — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:25:26 +0000

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.

By: Kimpatsu

Kimpatsu — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:41:26 +0000

I actually dreamed last night of a Dalek chasing me through a library.
Moffat has much to answer for.

By: Ragutis

Ragutis — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:24:49 +0000

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.

By: Allynd Dudnikov

Allynd Dudnikov — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:14:59 +0000

Mehhh. I didn’t like Rose, the Doctor isn’t supposed to have romance in his life and I found her annoying..

By: PeteM

PeteM — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:17:25 +0000

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.

By: madge

madge — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:18:18 +0000

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!?”

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:54:35 +0000

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

By: Pieter Kok

Pieter Kok — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:29:19 +0000

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.

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:28:07 +0000

My favourite is WINE: Wine Is Not an Emulator

By: John Paradox

John Paradox — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:07:10 +0000

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/?

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:47:03 +0000

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.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:30:50 +0000

“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…..

By: Chris Hughes

Chris Hughes — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:03:50 +0000

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…

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:27:16 +0000

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/posh

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chav

By: Lyle G

Lyle G — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:13:29 +0000

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.

By: Kimpatsu

Kimpatsu — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:53:42 +0000

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!”

By: Neil

Neil — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:32:11 +0000

[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.