On Fri, 29 Jul 2016 08:45:45 +0100, David Lang
wrote:

On 29/07/2016 08:23, Another John wrote:
In article ,
David Lang wrote:

I'm trying to research the usage of the word "Gavver".
It's commonly used in North Kent as a slang term for the police. As in
"run, the gavvers are coming" or "I've been nicked, I'm at the gavver
station.
It's not a derogatory term like 'filth' or 'pigs' but general slang like
'rosser' or 'old bill'.
Could you reply with your location and whether or not it's common in
your area?

My son lives in North Kent. I was at a family function the other day and
was talking to one of his older neighbours, who was complaining about
the number of "pikeys" (his word) in this area these days (though he
implied that there'd always been a presence). He said it was to do with
the amount of building (i.e. casual jobs) in the area.

Very often words like this originate with the "travelling folk" as they
like to call themselves.

I believe its a Romany word, or derived from one, like Chav.



Allegedly related to turnpike, so not Romany.

Didicoy on the other hand is Romany, but refers to non-Romany
travellers.