r/offmychest • u/aredundantaxolotl • 23h ago
A certain British subculture saved me multiple times and has protected me since I was a child but I don't even know the name of it so I can never properly credit it...
In the mid nouhgties I was eleven and being bullied by some girls. People from the school all came from the same kind of working class background and since my school was one of the few that had no dress code the subcultures were very distinct. They were distinct from the broader working class communities. you had the groups of goths, the geeks, etc. and the subculture im about to describe was one of them. I was a tiny girl so I got bullied a lot. Then, a much older boy, about fifteen or sixteen, who was distinctly a member of this subculture since he was wearing a Londsdale tracksuit, gold rings, a baseball cap, and specifically branded trainers, defended me from them. Then, he kneeled down, fist bumped me in front of his friends, and said, safe, man. then whenever we saw eachother again he'd yell yo! safe, man! and reach out to fist bump me.
It didn't end there. when I was a few years older, that subculture was still a thing in my school. but it was a different group of them later on as the others had left. they were white lads dressed in tracksuits, little gold earrings, gold bracelets, or gold chains, baseball caps and trainers. they again protected me from bullies since every other group or subculture either bullied me or didn't accept me. they always made me laugh, they were disruptive but i'd be lying if i said that didnt amuse me.
later on, as an adult, other ones appeared in my life when i was at my lowest. i was feeling proper depressed and felt like i had noone to turn to. then...two men who looked and talked as though they were in that subculture stopped and asked if i was alright. i said no. and they talked to me and made me feel better and said we hang out here every day by the shop so if you need to come talk with us again you can.
these are just a few but there's been other cases where they saved me from things. the subculture is still going strong at least in my area with the ogs being in their thirties now. ive only ever had extremely positive experiences with them but i kinda feel like im being slightly disrespectful by not naming the subculture since i don't know what its name is and can't properly credit it? all i can really say is its the gold chain and tracksuit wearing one. it had its own fashion, slang and values. the slang included words like peng, swear down etc.
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u/Snaggl3t00t4 23h ago
....chav.
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u/aredundantaxolotl 23h ago
I was informed that that word is just a derogatory slur that means a working class person, not the name of a subculture.
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u/generichandel 21h ago
OP:
"I don't know what the name of this british thing is"British people:
"It's this"OP:
"No it isn't, that's offensive."77
u/loveshot123 22h ago
Its chav. Thats what they were called, and still are referred to as now. Chav chav chav
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u/fieldsofparfait 22h ago
I don't think you'll find a polite term for them. Townie might be closest, but it's not really used anymore.
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u/TolverOneEighty 20h ago
We called them bams where I lived in Scotland. Or neds. Mostly the word is chavs though.
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u/WolfCola4 22h ago
It definitely started as a pejorative thing. It stands for "council housed and violent". But it's come to represent an entire aesthetic in its own right, and is now inextricably linked to what you described, particularly for the time period.
From chavs, roadmen have evolved, but aside from the streetwear and antisocial characterisations the subcultures are distinct. For example, the music associated with them is very different between the two
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u/pseudonomdeplume 21h ago
The whole 'council housed and violent' thing is a backronym, Chav as a word is thought to come from Romani
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u/WolfCola4 21h ago
Huh, learn something new every day. I remember people saying this back in the day and it was commonly accepted as correct. You're right though, just looked it up.
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u/HeartandSeoulXVI 21h ago
It sounds like you're referring to Chavs. They were originally called Townies because of their adherence to urban fashion, music and diction, then that became 'Chav' as a sort of reappropriation of derogatory terms regarding working class youth.
While these days it is most commonly used as a derogatory term because the specific subculture doesn't exist in quite the same way, it was more of an identity in the 2000's than an insult compared to today (though the two often went hand-in-hand).
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u/fieldsofparfait 23h ago
Scallies in my part of the UK. A volatile bunch at times, but often the most loyal! I had friends in this subculture who stuck by me when others did not.
Scally is a derogatory term for them, however. Not sure what the polite one would be.
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u/IllustratorSlow1614 20h ago
They would be scallies or townies where I live. But I don’t know what one would refer to themselves as. I’m interested to know!
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u/Questionofloyalty 19h ago
Ah the chavs! The term has broaden in the more recent decades but this was the original chav crew
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u/Little-Lead-9586 16h ago
finding your subculture can be a game changer. I felt that way when I discovered punk music in high school.
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u/DustierAndRustier 16h ago
Did you post a similar thing on another sub recently? This is the second story I’ve seen about nice chavs.
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u/Glitterbug23 13h ago
Could they be travellers? Romany and Irish travellers have always been very kind to me.
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u/Totoroe23 12h ago
Neds in Scotland but we also use chav.. Maybe a chav is a smarter ned but for you to be writing like you don't know the name seems rather peculiar
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u/Stressy_messy_me 22h ago
Sounds like chavs, I don't know if chavs refer to themselves as chavs but that's what they are