Ummmm, I'm going to reveal my age. What's a bogan?
It's okay jgnat. This is an Australian term. Bogan is like the British term chav and the American term white trash. The use of the word "bogan" as an insult originated in Melbourne, to describe people of the working class.
The stereotype may be summarised as follows:
- white
- poor, particularly on the dole and/or living in public housing.
- driving an old, Australian car such as a Holden Commodore, (particulary the highly prized artefact the VK or VL model) or the Ford Falcon, and highly interested in cars.
- interested in sport, particularly Australian Rules or Rugby League football, depending on which code is dominant in their area.
- violent, anti-social, possibly criminal.
- diet consists primarily of fast food, such as McDonalds. Four and Twenty meat pies are particularly prized, due mainly to nationalistic associations.
- uses traditionally working class dialect terms. For example, a person may be derided for using 'youse' (plural form of 'you'), the distinctive pronunciation of 'nothing', 'something', and 'anything' ending with a hard 'k' sound, and pronouncing the name of the letter 'h' as 'haitch'.
- Often (although not necessarily) prone to the use of marijuana.
- there is a detailed stereotype of what bogans wear, which includes Moccasin-style slippers, ugg boots, tight black jeans, singlets, flannelette shirts (or black jerseys and jeans in Waitakere/West Auckland) and prominent tattoos, short, tight 'footy shorts', blue singlets and thongs/jandals (the footwear Americans call 'flip-flops', not the underwear) and sunnies. This can also include tracksuit pants in the case of younger male bogans, primarily due to their cheap price. Inappropriate/unseasonal nudity can at times also be observed, primarily among males.