In message , Peter Parry
writes
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 11:36:18 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


They don't seem to be acronyms, what's the derivation?

Apparently the word chav has become common in southern England, and
is generally thought to come from "Chatham girls". Similar bits of
the mud from the urban gene pool are called charver (North East),
scalley (Liverpool) , ned (non-educated delinquent), or chor in other
parts of the country.

Some people think the word chav comes originally from the Romany word
chavo (boy), which is also the origin of the Spanish word chaval.
Originally possibly from a Sanskrit word 'chhaapaa' meaning 'young
one',

Not .... Cliff Richard !

If chhaapaa means "young one", then it makes "old chap" sound a bit
nonsensical, doesn't it


--
geoff