Discussion Groups / British English / February 2006

Yes, too new.

When I was a kid, the word "common" was used by some
(not by me or my family - that would have been common)
to refer to the sort of people who are now known as "chavs".

As new as the phenomenon itself.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1330487,00.html

Paul Burke

or this:

Chav
The precise origin of chav is a matter of debate, but most people agree
on its geography, namely that it probably began in Chatham, Kent, where
it was best known until it gained its recent high profile. It seems that
the word itself began as a derogatory label for an older underclass,
gypsies, many of whom have lived in that area for generations. Language
expert Michael Quinion surmises that chav may well come from the Romany
word for a child, chavi, recorded from the middle of the nineteenth
century. Later in the same century it was apparently used as an insult
to an adult man, after which it fell into obscurity before its revival
today.

- Susie Dent, larpers and shroomers

It's a comparatively new slang term, with usage limited to the UK. For
details on chavs and chavdom, check out: http://www.chavscum.co.uk/

- TR