The following websites define and illustrate various terms current in
modern British riffraffology:

http://www.chavscum.co.uk/culture.html

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/no31online/spidegenerator.htm

http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk/nedagotchi/glaNedagotchi.html

http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk/people/glaPeople.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/chewinthefat/neds/neducation.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/chewinthefat/personality_test/index.sht
ml
(Can't get that one to work but perhaps someone else can.)

'Chav', by the way, comes from the Sanskrit 'sava' via Polari and
Romany.

--
Mickwick

It's something we discuss regularly at my office. We assumed, though, that
the word "charver" was unique to the North East of England. Seems we were
wrong.

Thanks for the web links. They're quite enlightening.

RobertE

'Ned' might be the exception but I don't know enough about it to say for
sure.

The original Ratboy was from your part of the world, I think. Does
'ratboy' have a wider usage now? I hadn't encountered it since the
original news stories, but that doesn't mean a great deal.

--
Mickwick

        ratboy

        A fat kid who DOES NOT know kung fu.

By contrast, there are 139 definitions of 'townie'
                        89 of 'pikey' (most of them ned-like)
                        77 of 'charva'/'charver'
                        51 of 'chav'
                        31 of 'scally'
                        13 of 'ned'
                         8 of 'kev'
                         6 of 'skanger'
                         5 of 'janner'
                         5 of 'stig'
                         3 of 'spide'
                         2 of 'steek'
and                      1 of 'kappa slapper'

This is quite a phenomenon! I find it fascinating. All of these words
(and an overwhelming majority of the definitions) describe the same male
sub-culture (I forgot to check the definitions of the female equivalents
- 'millie', 'senga' etc.) and they seem to have arisen independently in
different regions. (Even if they share the same etymology, as
'charva'/'charver' and 'chav' may well do.)

And, although often fuelled by the usual Urbandictionary bile, many of
the definitions are uncharacteristically literate. The explanation for
this can be found within the definitions themselves - neds/chavs/charvas
are said to prey on students.

Here are the regions, as far as I can tell:

Townie                  Everywhere. Particularly associated with
                        town/gown animosity.

Pikey                   South Coast of England, where it has shed its
                        earlier 'gypsy' meaning and now indicates a ned.

Charva/charver          North East.

Chav                    Kent.

Scally                  Originally Liverpool but widely understood.

Ned                     Originally Glasgow, then Edinburgh, now current
                        in parts of England. Several etymologies, all
                        bogus, apparently.

Kev                     Claimed as Brummie, but Kevin has long been a
                        widespread shorthand for 'oikish male'.

Skanger                 Dublin.

Janner                  Portsmouth.

Stig                    Everywhere. From the book 'Stig of the Dump'.

Spide                   Belfast. (Originally 'Spiderman'.)

Steek                   Belfast.

Yarco                   Great Yarmouth - a 'townie' employee of Yarco.
                        (That's a guess.)

Some highlights (or perhaps not) from Urbandictionary.com:

        ned

        Irritating guys who throw rocks at buses [...]

(Good luck, Jacqui!)

And:
        spide

        [...] the troubles in n. Ireland were caused by spides, and
        their estates are daubed with paramilitary propaganda such as
        "red hand commandos" or "up the provos". English hip- hop hoods
        think they are tough, but where i'm from, the spides eat Ali G
        wannabes for breakfast and wash it down with a pint of gravel.
        beware.

And:
        charver

        In Polari (1950s gay slang) charver means shag.

        I'm going to charver your brains out.

And:
        NED

        Northeast Dick Head. A person from Northeast Philadelphia who
        goes to bars and starts fights, gets wasted and acts like an
        idiot

(Oy! Stop nicking our slang!)

Things to look out for:

        Acne
        Spotless white trainers
        Gelled fringes
        Tracksuits etc. with *big* logos
        Stripey T-shirts (charvas/charvers only, apparently)
        Baseball caps worn at an odd angle
        Loads of bling bling
        'Scars' shaved into eyebrows
        Wigga slang (Hi, DE781!)
        Anything by Burberry (Royal Warrant granted: 1919)

Things not to say:

        Did you know that 'charver' is gay slang?

--
Mickwick

Edward
--
The reading group's reading group:
http://www.bookgroup.org.uk

RobertE

Edward
--
The reading group's reading group:
http://www.bookgroup.org.uk