tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post2989845343190341347..comments2024-01-26T10:20:37.836+00:00Comments on Diary of a Goldfish: Coming out of my shellsuitThe Goldfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-32487933043669455972007-07-19T10:50:00.000+01:002007-07-19T10:50:00.000+01:00If you're looking for a label, try 'shabby gentili...If you're looking for a label, try 'shabby gentility' for a while.<BR/><BR/>Incidentally (dons anorak), Hegley's motivation was for the shortest poem with the longest title.<BR/><BR/>Fee xFee Lockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16648708272753434546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-75332400352563518962007-04-05T12:24:00.000+01:002007-04-05T12:24:00.000+01:00Thanks everyone,Some interesting issues raised her...Thanks everyone,<BR/><BR/>Some interesting issues raised here, but I want to go away and think about them for a bit. Hmm...The Goldfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-43043008661484247962007-04-04T22:35:00.000+01:002007-04-04T22:35:00.000+01:00If, of your own free will, you use loads of eyelin...If, of your own free will, you use loads of eyeliner, dye your hair black, wear Doc Martens and stripy tights and lots of silver jewellery, you can't be surprised when people call you a Goth and make various assumptions about you.<BR/><BR/>If, of your own free will, you plait flowers in your long, untrimmed hair, wear floaty skirts, wander around with no shoes on and smell distinctly of cannabis, you shouldn't be amazed if people call you a Hippy and make certain assumptions.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, if, of your own free will, you wear a burberry baseball cap, a tracksuit, loads of "bling" jewellery and accessorise with a can of Stella, you must be prepared for people calling you a chav.<BR/><BR/>All of these groups have a certain image. And while the "Goth" might think Courtney Love is a moron, the "Hippy" might be perfectly happy eating steak, and the "chav" might have five A levels and a degree, they still <I>know</I>, in advance, the assumptions that will be made of them if they go out and about while purposely and voluntarily looking like a member of that group.<BR/><BR/>It's not a grouping like "foreign" or "disabled" or "intelligent" or "redheaded" or "black". It's not what you happen to be, through no decision of your own. "Chav" is something you decide to actively identify as, and go to some effort to look the part.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for the long post.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639094548415759560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-12180120464829969742007-04-04T16:34:00.000+01:002007-04-04T16:34:00.000+01:00Bump to Mum Sally: "Remind me to never again go i...Bump to Mum Sally: "Remind me to never again go into Blany on a weekend, its full of f...... chavs. And they've all got more money to spend than I have." <BR/><BR/>And big black 4x4s parked on the front garden, satellite dishes vying for space with the left over Christmas inflatable reindeer on the outside of their ex-council houses that they have done up with plastic railings round the kids' trampoline, where the little chavs sit to avoid the dog mess.Sallyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08223682934383856392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-60798152264221658012007-04-04T15:23:00.000+01:002007-04-04T15:23:00.000+01:00In our house when I was a child, the term was "Cou...In our house when I was a child, the term was "Council House" even though for some of the time we lived in one.<BR/><BR/>Council House people were too feckless to get a steady job or a mortgage, bummed every conceivable concession off the rates and then didn't pay their rent, had badly disciplined children and pets, played loud music on radiograms, had the TV on all day (ITV, of course!) and had no books in the house but plenty of beer, that is when they weren't creating affrays outside the estate pubs.<BR/><BR/>In later life my parents never got over the discovery that just the same behaviour emanated from Executive Estates inside locked gates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-49142727226627538442007-04-04T15:00:00.000+01:002007-04-04T15:00:00.000+01:00I don't know if I can contribute usefully to this ...I don't know if I can contribute usefully to this topic, but I'll try!<BR/><BR/>I was never confident about how chavs are defined. I was watching a documentary (some time ago) which left me with the impression there was a connection between the term 'chavs' and fakes - especially fake Burberry.<BR/><BR/>It could be that there's no connection and it's only part of a general perception - e.g. "chavs wear cheap fakes from market stalls! They'll never take ME in with that."<BR/><BR/>I remember reading in a Scotsman Online discussion (comments section): a commenter's view that most intelligent people left Scotland long ago. The only ones left here are the politicians and the impoverished 'neds'. In a backlash, he and others who left Scotland were shot down in flames for abandoning the old country; taking their business and skills elsewhere... but still being interested enough to read The Scotsman and make remarks.<BR/><BR/>But that's another subject entirely - it's just that, every time somebody talks about 'neds', I think about that discussion. Maybe if I go to New Zealand, I'll automatically stop being the ned that I am for living here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-74967047384728838912007-04-04T14:45:00.000+01:002007-04-04T14:45:00.000+01:00I don't like John Hegley one little bit, but that'...I don't like John Hegley one little bit, but that's pretty funny.Timbohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01986433684065986927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-68188619701191377842007-04-04T13:44:00.000+01:002007-04-04T13:44:00.000+01:00Ah! First, am I?Great post. As someone who has jus...Ah! First, am I?<BR/><BR/>Great post. As someone who has just become a teacher I'm constantly having to catch new terms and insults before they cause disruption - chav is a good example of one that sprung out of nowhere. (Along with the apparently innocuous "Yer mum...").<BR/><BR/>And I can only remember two poems:- A gibson poem about war (o level English...) and the Hegley one you've got there. Great!the whaleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14785479368844056073noreply@blogger.com