I though that too "oh no look at those chavs" at MacDonald's Supersize me also did not see what happened to you if you eat a full xmass dinner every day for a month did it.
It’s an English word for rougher lower class young men. People look down on them, it’s partially a class thing and partially how they dress and how they’re just boisterous. Don’t know what the equivalent word in the USA is but in Australia we say Bogan which is similar.
Equivalent words for lower class people in the USA often have a racial slur component involved so you don't see them used in the same context. I thought the word "bro" might be close but bro has a upper or middle class connotation, being derived from frat brother, rather than lower class.
Interesting. I was under the impression that 'bogan' was sort of the Aussie equivalent to the classic American "hillbilly" -- and there's a slight (and depending on how it's used, sometimes not-so-slight) negative connotation to it here in the US as well.
There is no American counterpart for euro chavs, and it’s too late for that now. Euro chav fashion has been very influential in America over the last decade. A lot of Americans think chavs were hip as a result.
