Chavs gain kudos with buzz words

by Metro

Last updated at 14:41 09 June 2005


Maybe chavs aren't so, well, chavish after all. For they have just been awarded the 'honour' of a place in a leading English dictionary.

The ubiquitous chav is defined as 'a young working-class person who dresses in casual sports clothes' ( perhaps from Romany chavi - a child).

There are also entries for chavette (the female equivalent), and the adjectives chavish and chavtastic (suitable or designed for chavs).

They are among 1,500 new words to make it into the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary - reflecting the latest trends in language and culture.

Also in there is yarco (East Anglian), ned (Scottish), Asbo (the acronym for the anti-social behaviour order) and property porn (a genre of escapist TV programmes, magazine features, etc showing desirable properties for sale). Other new words include adultescent (an adult who is still actively interested in youth culture), and retrosexual (a heterosexual man who spends little time and money on his appearance).

Sport is well represented. Tapping-up is defined as 'the illicit practice of attempting to recruit a player while he is still bound by contract to another team' - as demonstrated by last week's Ashley Cole affair.

Bouncebackability is 'the ability to recover after a setback, esp in sport'.

Collins Dictionary editor-in-chief Jeremy Butterfield said: "These new words portray a vibrant, multicultural society finding new ways to express itself and describe the world around it."

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