Is using the word Council becoming Council?
Discussion
It's always been a thoroughly snobbish term which basically means "something I believe it's beneath my social standing to like". On here I think increasingly it's being used to just mean "something I don't like".
I'm not sure which is worse but whichever sense it's used in it's generally a useful marker for "entirely discount the opinion of this person".
I'm not sure which is worse but whichever sense it's used in it's generally a useful marker for "entirely discount the opinion of this person".
TooMany2cvs said:
so called said:
Does the constant use of this word, with just lately appears to cover anyone on low income
Strikes me more as a question of taste, not income.
k.V8mate said:
Exactly. Wayne Rooney, for example, is wealthier than I would even bother dreaming of being, but he's council as fk.
Genuine question, what about him is council? Other than being thick?k.Doesn't dress like a chav (unless he's in United gear), doesn't drive silly wrapped cars, house looks very nice etc.
I am guilty of using the term 'council' and would like to take this opportunity to fess up and get the guilt off my chest.... last year at a track day at Snetterton (very local to me) there was an early eighties looking Ford Sierra on track... IIRC it was blue, but had a white bonnet and a red lower front panel, like they were sourced from the breakers but nothing sprayed to match.... It also had what had to be the original 1.6 L badge on the back..... It was smoking everything on track... and on closer inspection (and a chat with the owner) it had a Ford 5.0 V8 (tuned to buggery) under the bonnet, and every possible mod you could make to the rest of car, like Brembos or AP's (can't remember which) proper suspension, full roll cage etc etc etc, in other words a properly engineered well developed well thought out track day tool... and it sounded fecking awesome... But, what made this awesome bit of track day goodness so good was the early eighties multi coloured Sierra shell with the 1.6 L badge on the back...
Sorry rambled on a bit there, point of this is that later that day I described this car to a mate as absolutely awesome piece of kit but 'looked like something you'd expect to see abandoned by the side of the road on a council estate'.
He took great exception to this as he'd grown up on a council estate and didn't appreciate my comment...
Anyway, I'm sorry for having referenced council estates in this way, and apologise to anyone who might also find this kind of reference insulting....
Many of you probably do live on a council estate and I just wanted to get things straight....
I do feel better however for having shared this with the general PH community....
Sorry rambled on a bit there, point of this is that later that day I described this car to a mate as absolutely awesome piece of kit but 'looked like something you'd expect to see abandoned by the side of the road on a council estate'.
He took great exception to this as he'd grown up on a council estate and didn't appreciate my comment...
Anyway, I'm sorry for having referenced council estates in this way, and apologise to anyone who might also find this kind of reference insulting....
Many of you probably do live on a council estate and I just wanted to get things straight....
I do feel better however for having shared this with the general PH community....
Indeed - it is the lexicon of the internet snob. To be sniffy about council estates is all a bit Hyacinth Bucket
I'd like to see it replaced with a new derogative term of "Mock Tudor": viz, "I see Kenneth at number 34 has a new 320d with cushions and tissues on the back shelf. I remember when he used to drive a Mondeo and be happy". "Indeed, he's gone a bit Mock Tudor"
I'd like to see it replaced with a new derogative term of "Mock Tudor": viz, "I see Kenneth at number 34 has a new 320d with cushions and tissues on the back shelf. I remember when he used to drive a Mondeo and be happy". "Indeed, he's gone a bit Mock Tudor"
Shotaro said:
I've never known what the problem with being "council" is. I grew up on a council estate, it was OK, I'm not sure why it has to be such a dirty word
So did I, but you've got to admit, the scumbaloids on "Police Interceptors" and "Police, Camera, Action" always disappear into the murky depths of a council estate somewhere.SuperchargedVR6 said:
So did I, but you've got to admit, the scumbaloids on "Police Interceptors" and "Police, Camera, Action" always disappear into the murky depths of a council estate somewhere.
Absolutely. I grew up in Bracknell and Road Wars on Sky One was often recorded there, I even saw quite a few people I know turn up on the show, unfortunately they weren't the ones doing the arrestingIs it perhaps the case that Council estates have changed in character over the last few decades?
Perhaps linked to the massive rise in University attendance, and its affordability (although it certainly seems less affordable now than 10 years ago), and the decline in manufacturing/heavy jobs.
My untested theory is that there are 2/3 factors that have sifted out the for want of a less eugenic sounding term 'better' people from estates. So the smart, motivated kids have taken themselves off to University, broadened their horizons, secured reasonable jobs and left the estate behind.
The loss of jobs in industry, that gave meaning and hope to people has meant that the smarter chaps, previously progressing through supervisory, management, and perhaps union roles have either had to leave or give up.
Right to buy has meant that a generation of thrifty types have been able to take a chunky profit on their council house, and moved out into private accommodation.
The result is that the estates lose the bright, the motivated, the disciplined and those that are left don;t have those positive influences, don;t have the prospect of promotions at work or perhaps even the possibility of a decent job with defined hours.
Separate but linked, in the Army once upon a time the NCO cadre would have been these smart, determined lads from council backgrounds - now these lads wind up at Sandhurst and commission. So, have council estates and the military suffered as a result of social mobility (in both directions)? Have the commisioned ranks benefitted from an influx of chaps who aren't inbred and whose parents weren't related and in possession of a combined 23 toes? I am sure that a reduction in expensively educated but 3rd rate brains is a positive step.
Perhaps linked to the massive rise in University attendance, and its affordability (although it certainly seems less affordable now than 10 years ago), and the decline in manufacturing/heavy jobs.
My untested theory is that there are 2/3 factors that have sifted out the for want of a less eugenic sounding term 'better' people from estates. So the smart, motivated kids have taken themselves off to University, broadened their horizons, secured reasonable jobs and left the estate behind.
The loss of jobs in industry, that gave meaning and hope to people has meant that the smarter chaps, previously progressing through supervisory, management, and perhaps union roles have either had to leave or give up.
Right to buy has meant that a generation of thrifty types have been able to take a chunky profit on their council house, and moved out into private accommodation.
The result is that the estates lose the bright, the motivated, the disciplined and those that are left don;t have those positive influences, don;t have the prospect of promotions at work or perhaps even the possibility of a decent job with defined hours.
Separate but linked, in the Army once upon a time the NCO cadre would have been these smart, determined lads from council backgrounds - now these lads wind up at Sandhurst and commission. So, have council estates and the military suffered as a result of social mobility (in both directions)? Have the commisioned ranks benefitted from an influx of chaps who aren't inbred and whose parents weren't related and in possession of a combined 23 toes? I am sure that a reduction in expensively educated but 3rd rate brains is a positive step.
Why do people care, whenever someone actually uses the word in a somewhat serious manner on here im sure a large portion of folks just dismiss their entire post as the ramblings of the town busybody. 'Mabels son James has tinted the windows of his Focus ST, Margaret has painted her new fence RED! Oh er ooooh.'
To blindspot's point ^^, I read somewhere that there was a move under the Blair government to award council housing preferentially to the most needy, as measured by certain indices of deprivation. This changed the order of waiting lists and meant that a narrower section of society ended up living on some estates. Whereas I understand that when the first post-war estates were built, the opposite was true - you had to qualify for the accommodation by showing that you could be trusted to be a good tenant.
I can't find the link now so the above may just be my bad memory.
I can't find the link now so the above may just be my bad memory.
I was expecting to get a shed load of abuse with this thread so would like to say thank you for the considered posts.
For me the comment about Rooney is a perfect example.
Basic education, scouse accent, rough around the edges.
He's never going to be as eloquent as Bobby Moore but he's fought for England with as much pride and is there with Bobby charlton with the goals.
If he's chav then I prefer him than the obnoxious dicks that ignores the rest.
I was in a design office many years ago with a good bunch of guys.
We were having a general cross office humorous chat when one of the lads said that his wife was from Liverpool.
I'll quote the next voice to be heard, " Oh god, you've gone right down in my estimations".
What the f##k is that all about.
It took 3 lads to hold back the husband while two others marched the knob out.
For me the comment about Rooney is a perfect example.
Basic education, scouse accent, rough around the edges.
He's never going to be as eloquent as Bobby Moore but he's fought for England with as much pride and is there with Bobby charlton with the goals.
If he's chav then I prefer him than the obnoxious dicks that ignores the rest.
I was in a design office many years ago with a good bunch of guys.
We were having a general cross office humorous chat when one of the lads said that his wife was from Liverpool.
I'll quote the next voice to be heard, " Oh god, you've gone right down in my estimations".
What the f##k is that all about.
It took 3 lads to hold back the husband while two others marched the knob out.
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