bogan

What it means

1. 1.

   A person seen as unsophisticated and working-class, identified by dress, taste and accent. Roughly Britain's chav or America's redneck, and carrying the same class contempt.

2. 2.

   Sometimes reclaimed and worn with pride, particularly in the compound 'cashed-up bogan'.

   Whether it stings depends entirely on who is saying it about whom.

In use

• It's a bit of a bogan pub, but the schnitzel's good.

• Proud bogan, me.

  Note: Self-applied and affectionate.

Where it comes from

Emerged in the 1980s, popularised by television comedy. The connection to the Bogan River in New South Wales is often asserted and has never been demonstrated.

First attested: 1980s