Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast
07 Dec 2013
General News, page 40 - 1,084.74 cm²
Regional - circulation 45,182 (-----S-)
Copyright Agency licensed copy
(www.copyright.com.au)
ID 226876343
PAGE 1 of 3
In search of bogan
origins
Dork, moron, westie
- they were the truly Aussie put -downs of
the 1990s. The Noughties has seen the rise of a new cache of
slang terms, none more popular than the word bogan. But what
does it actually mean and is it offensive or funny? Griffith
University PhD student Roz Rowen is researching the word
bogan and the people it describes. She talks to Alice Gorman.
His boss Clive Palmer isn't
afraid to admit it - he's a bogan
too.
But where did the word bogan come from and what does
it actually mean?
They're questions
Roz
in its early stages she's already
made headway.
swer for when she completes
her four -year study into the
what Dr Douglas was referring
to - nor my eight -year -old for
that matter.
over the waistband of his tight,
skinny -legged, black jeans.
was loud" I wondered how the
word bogan had come to be in
my young son's vernacular.
When I was his age my vocabulary was limited to words
His missus was wearing a
like silly, idiot and, at worst,
to its fair share of bogans.
skimpy numbers, so revealing
stupid.
Griffith
PhD
They used to hide away in the
that her chunky bra straps
candidate Roz Rowen wasn't
outer suburbs (hello Nerang
(white) were exposed - as were
her tatts.
surprised to hear about my
I'm looking at you), but they've
eight -year -old's
entirely ap-
They were both tattooed,
propriate use of the word bo-
shed their inhibitions and can
now be found walking along
the Burleigh foreshore; at the
THERE was no missing them.
It wasn't so much what they
they'll hear you!"
were wearing but how they
them, they ARE bogans. "'
"Son, truth is no defence," I
counselled.
were wearing it.
He had long grey
hair,
"But they are mum, look at
Later in the day, as I said a
skimming his bum. He was re-
ceding around the forehead -
there was more hair on the
back of his head than the front
and it was balanced out nicely
by his beer gut, which hung
singlet top (black), one of those
quiet "Thank God the windows were up and the radio hopes to have a definitive an-
but then who isn't these days?
He was wearing thongs - of
gan.
the feet variety - a pair that
in
had seen better days.
This odd couple shuffled
across the pedestrian crossing
in front of our stationary car.
My son, who is eight,
screamed at the top of his
voice: "look mum they're BOGANS!"
It was one of those tough
parenting
moments
when
word.
Roz grew up in Toowoomba. which she admits is home
So too is the Gold Coast.
University
"He's just getting involved
culture," she says. "He's
eight and he gets it, he gets
what a bogan is. Kids pick up
on the cultural trends that are
in day -to -day conversations."
lights in Surfers; and at the
supermarket at Robina.
"Everyone has an opinion
on bogans and everyone's
opinion is different," says Roz.
"We need to come to a gen-
She has been able to date
the word bogan back to 1897
when Banjo Patterson used it
in one of his poems to describe
a narrow flowing stream.
I'm pretty sure that's NOT
Roz says the word bogan
crept into conversations in the
1980s, particularly to describe
punk rockers and people of the
Doc Martin, Mohawk variety.
First they were described as
westie bevans, then, bevan became bogan.
But if you're called a bogan
by your friends don't get all defensive, Roz reckons the word
can have humorous overtones
too (Dr Douglas take note).
"Sometimes I've been called
a bogan by my friends," she explains.
"If I'm dressed casually and
Roz says bogan is a unique
Aussie slang term that has embedded itself in our day -to -day
conversations.
eral consensus on what it is to
this constantly change because
to be jocular.
Just ask Dr Alex Douglas,
the Queensland leader of the
our surroundings constantly
change. We use words differently to get our meaning
across so you can't have this
"We love bogans, but hate
them at the same time. But I
think bogans generally are
boring, fixed meaning. We use
language in a dynamic way."
While Roz's research is only
Pride.
you're torn. Do I agree with
him (they were definitely of
the bogan species), or do I
Palmer United Party.
chastise him for being rude.
I opted for a loud, "Ssssshh
herited the earth" attracted
His no holds- barred email
moaning that "bogans have inAustralia -wide attention.
be a bogan.
"Meanings of words like
not in corporate attire. It's not
meant to hurt you, it's meant
proud to be bogan."
Enter the phrase Bogan
Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast
07 Dec 2013
General News, page 40 - 1,084.74 cm²
Regional - circulation 45,182 (-----S-)
Copyright Agency licensed copy
(www.copyright.com.au)
You may look on and sneer
at their hotted up V8 Commo-
dore with lime green mag
wheels, their
designer ugg
boots and their tricoloured
ID 226876343
"But we can't be restricted
to only calling someone a bogan if they live in that area. I
think there is still the Commodore, mullet stereotype.
"But now bogan is used
hair (blonde ends, black roots
with pink highlights), but a
true bogan knows it's you with
the problem, not them.
Often the word bogan helps
place a person geographically.
Logan Bogan anyone?
"Initially it meant someone
who lived in the outer suburbs
of a city or town," says Roz
"My research suggests this
is the case but now you've got
these cashed up bogans.
They're going against the
economic class status.
"I don't doubt that there are
still Logan bogans, Ipswich bogans and Toowoomba bogans.
much more broadly.
"Bogans look different to
other people, they behave differently to other people
"They can be somewhat aggressive, violent, vulgar.
PAGE 2 of 3
grammar.
Then after school she did an
having a conversation.
"Sometimes they're impol-
undergraduate degree in general languages and linguistics,
ite, sometimes they're down-
with a major in Japanese.
and here she is today dissecting bogans.
"Everyone says, `You're just
like your mother, - admits Roz.
"She was always the person
being really creative with language, really passionate about
language and the way we use it.
"I love Australian slang.
Roz, who looks nothing at
all like a bogan, says she was
always that person who had to
speech acts.
"I love watching people and
We love bogans.
but hate there
atthesarne
time.
But I think
bogans
generallyare
proud to be
bogan.
GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
PHD CANDIDATE
ROI ROWEN. {RIGHT)
"I'm going to be collecting
One thing led to another conversations where people
"Usually they're less intelligent than other people."
So how has it come to this?
How has a 23- year -old from
Toowoomba decided to devote
four years of her life studying
the world of the bogan?
correct her friends and family's
right funny.
"There's more to it though,
we don't just have these weird
words for no reason.
"My PhD is looking at a
number different words and
the way they interact. The
things that go on when they're
talk about bogans. My data includes 78- year -olds talking
about the word bogan.
"My grandmother calls
everyone bogans.
"My goal is to map out the
different interactions and ways
we create meaning in an interaction and see if that changes.
"The word bogan could be
used in one of 10 ways."
Do you have a strong opinion on what it is to be a bogan?
Are you a bogan loud and
proud? Roz wants to hear from
you. Email [email protected]
Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast
07 Dec 2013
General News, page 40 - 1,084.74 cm²
Regional - circulation 45,182 (-----S-)
Copyright Agency licensed copy
(www.copyright.com.au)
ID 226876343
Laughing at ourselves? TV's Kath and Kim brought the bogan belt on to the small screen
PAGE 3 of 3