Roadman, drill and chavs: A guide to help Christian parents

“Wagwan fam? What you tellin’ me?”

Would you know how to respond if someone said this to you in the street?

Most of us would struggle — that’s because it’s roadman. Yep, that’s a thing. Here’s the translation: “Hey man, what’s up?”

Historically, the term roadman was used to describe men who worked on roads, repairing them. However, among today’s young people, the term is used rather differently. The same can be said of the word chav — a term derived from the Romani words chavo and chavvy, meaning young boy and baby (or child), respectively. Like roadman, this word has also evolved to represent a specific cultural identity among young people in the UK.

The evolution of roadman and chav

The meanings of roadman and chav have changed over the last three decades. Chav used to be a derogatory label referring to the white working-class poor who wore certain clothes and were often engaged in dangerous, criminal, and anti-social behaviour. It became synonymous with a type of “wrong” whiteness. Unsurprisingly, for some members of the public, this word is deemed offensive.