The lost tribes of bogan: booners, westies and bevans

RT says:

09:18am | 04/08/09

Much Australian slang has been and will continue to be replaced by adopted Americanisms. ‘Guys’ was once never heard in Australia except on TV but now it has replaced ‘blokes’ almost completely, while ‘mate’ is losing ground to ‘buddy’.  So I don’t think there’s much hope of preserving regional slang, but points for trying.

W says:

10:07am | 04/08/09

Hailing from North Queensland, the term Bevan and Bogan had distinct meanings.  To be a bogan was as decribed, whereas a Bevan is a bogan with a V8 (or more contentiously a Hot4).

Paul says:

10:08am | 04/08/09

Pretty soon you will be calling bogans (or booners) rednecks. Your assimilation will be complete.

shari says:

10:09am | 04/08/09

I remember hearing the term ‘bogan’ and thinking “what’s that?”. Now for the life of me I can’t remember what we called bogans before they were bogans in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Here’s a disturbing thought - maybe WE were the bogans!

Castro says:

10:45am | 04/08/09

Well done Leo.  I have been reading your articles for some time with much approval.  You write well and exhibit much common sense.  It must have been all those school bus rides to and from Civic that exposed you to some civilised and sensible opinions (mine of course.)

This column is particularly correct and has hit a raw nerve of mine that has been exposed for some time.  In fact, I was arguing this very same fact last Friday with a mate of mine who went to the same school as you and I and was using the term bogan.  Correct terminology used by people from our part of the world is booner, or at a stretch, westie.

However, this centralisation of slang and lack of regional variety has become so pervasive it exists everywhere.  Even in the definition you provided.  According to your definition, a characteristic trait of the bogan/booner is the mullet.  The term mullet is a new word, coming from the England and in particular the Brit-Cod style of speaking that hit our shores in the late 90’s.  We used to call that hairstyle ‘Booner Curls’.

Let’s fight the good fight and resist the homogenisation of our language.  Good start Leo.

miles says:

11:02am | 04/08/09

i believe it started in queensland back in 93/94 when logan became a city - as a way to differentiate the depraved (culturally) people from that god forsaken strip of land between brisbane and the coast
think - bevans from logan…
(the fact that it rhymes with that deliciously evocative piece of brissie slang grogan, is just icing really..)

will says:

12:36pm | 04/08/09

I too lament the proliferation of the term bogan and while it may not be an issue that would necessarily make the agenda of the UN, nonetheless I believe it goes right to the core of what exactly makes up that great tautology – Australian culture.

While bogans and their ilk may all share the same dialect (eg. “f—- this, f—- that and f—- you”), the more specific classifications for these foul-mouthed degenerates are fast becoming extinct. I remember the times of old when, depending on their state (or territory) of origin, there were westies, booners, chiggers, and Queenslanders, just to name a few.

Also, aside from the general issue of the homogenisation of these terms into one over-arching nomenclature, I actually think there is a very real distinction between what qualifies individuals for these titles. In my experience (being a Canberran) it seems that bogan is a much more generic term for what can only be described as a complete and utter dickhead. On the other hand I would argue that booners, while we all admittedly had run ins as youngsters with the more unsavoury elements of this demographic, are in general more easy going than today’s bogans. While they similarly have their foibles, they are much more harmless.

For example, I remember in my youth Ross across the road from us, flannie on, holden wrecks on the lawn, concrete ornaments strewn randomly about the place, sharing a wave or a nod or, between drags of winnie blues, giving a ‘g’day mate’ or a ‘how’s it going champ’ as you chased the tenno from your frontyard cricket game. I mean a genuine and friendly greeting. Not a fake one such as that which may be bestowed by our great and exalted leader lu kewen, nor a hostile one as may be hurled at you on the shores of a Williamstown pub, with an empty pot glass closely in tow. I honestly believe booners are, or at least were, genuine people happy to live and let live, whereas bogans are conceited and aggressive, and can range anywhere from party boy coreys to V8 drag racers to Collingwood supporters.

Perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe there are no more harmless booners left. I guess with cultural developments like the ‘mullet’ being hijacked by the tight pink t-shirt wearing lounge bar footy head scene, and checkered shirts and tight black jeans on every rack of general pants who could blame them. Their identity, what it means to be booner, their very existence, has been taken from them and transformed into an ironic homage to the edges of fashion.

I concur with your sentiments, and can only hope these people, booners in particular, can one day reclaim some sort of regional and ‘cultural’ identity. And as one of your respondents noted, at the very least we can go back to calling mullets ‘boon curls’.

andrew says:

01:11pm | 04/08/09

Bogans was a melbourne term to my memory of the late 80’s and 90’s - and it’s later popular use by Kylie Mole of Comedy Company (a melbourne show) certainly supports this view.

Certainly in my memory Bogans referred to those ferals living in the outer east of Melbourne - Frankston, Dandenong and of course Belgrave with me - typical Winnie Blue smoking, cheap Kmart flanny shirt and moccy wearing layabouts who would beg you for a smoke and punch your head off if you wouldnt give them one.

Westies were a very clearly defined different type of scum, especially the Broady Boys and anyone from Deer Park, who no matter what they acheieved in life, were still absolute zeroes. No matter how destitute a bogan you were, at least you didnt come from the west.

get rid of bogans says:

02:25pm | 04/08/09

Who cares what we call them, can’t we focus on what’s important: the eradication program…

dave says:

03:09pm | 04/08/09

Further to Castro’s mullet comment, when I was growing up in SA we called one of those haircuts a “bogan roll” (short all over except for a curling fringe at the back) or “scottie” (normally the wearer’s name).

HSL says:

03:31pm | 04/08/09

In recognising australia’s heritage links with irish convicts and settlers, I think the similarities between generally accepted definitions of ‘bogan’ and the Irish/Dubliner phrase ‘bogger’ (for one who originated west of Dublin in the country/bog areas) can’t be ignored.

Much like ‘booner’ being a corruption of ‘boondock’ and Sydney’s ‘Westie’ - these phrases have strong geographical roots that reflect the accessibility of culture to people in a given area.

SimonP says:

04:50pm | 04/08/09

For starters, I’ll have to shoot holes in miles’ theory that “bogan” comes from south-east queensland in ‘93/‘94 (sorry!).  We used to talk about “bogons” when I was in high school in the early ‘80s – BEFORE The Comedy Company hit our screens.  When we saw Kylie Mole up there, she was speakin’ our language!

I’d never even heard of a “booner” or “chigger” or most of the other terms here until I read this article.  Although, like andrew, I can certainly tell you the difference between a bogan and a Broadie Boy and a westie!

Bogan expert says:

06:26pm | 04/08/09

Bogan has been around since the mid 70s in Hamilton, Victoria. I think the term started there because of the divide between the rich rurals and the town folk (all of whom are bogans on welfare in state housing). I think the term came from the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. There was a planet bogon and the residents where bogans- they loved building highways and loud metal music. In the 70s the town of Hamilton had more 351 ford V8s per head than any other town in the world. It is still the undisputed world bogan capital.

vic bogan says:

06:38pm | 04/08/09

Have never hear the term booner used. Is this a Queensland only thing? I suspect this is what hard core bogans call others they consider bogans. In tas they are cogs because they are always buying cogs to repair their gear boxes. Very bad drivers down there.

Madison says:

05:45pm | 05/08/09

“A fascinating beast. The majority of the species are hideously repugnant and unintelligent, and yet they manage to breed in ever-increasing numbers and populate an area known as the outer west. It is quite common to find five or six offspring in each family group, often with a different father for each new baby.
Their habitat consists of a weatherboard or brick-veneer dwelling and is characterised by an early-model Holden or Ford in the driveway surrounded by a group of males discussing why the carby is stuffed and the results of last night’s footy (a primitive gladiator-like spectator sport enjoyed by most bogans).
The female of the species, while smaller in stature, is far more loud and aggressive than the male. While the males tend to be very friendly and congregate with other males, the females spend most of their time in supermarkets and shopping malls, using a shrill high-pitched call to discipline their children and contact other females.
Males and females rarely interact socially except during breeding season, which is otherwise known as Friday night. During this time, females are allowed to enter the male-dominated area known as “the pub” and display their impressive coloured plumage to a prospective mate.
Herein lies an intersting phenomenon. Males will often fight over a particularly attractive female and she will mate with only one male, while some less attractive females have been known to have several partners simultaneously. “

-The Urban Dictionary

Wazza of the Bogan Ancestors says:

10:02pm | 05/08/09

The term Bogan (I have heard) derives drom the Irtish term for ‘dirty’, ie someone who lives in a bog (Swamp, marsh, muddy area)

GrantPark says:

06:31am | 07/08/09

My assumptions has always been that “bogan” (abbreviated to “bog”) was the preferred terminology for the Southern, Aussie Rules states.  Certainly in late-1970’s Perth it was all bogan, all the f*cking time.  Everyone in Adelaide is a bogan or serial killer (or bogan serial killer)

My hypothesis - as AFL has spread its influence across the country, southern state culture has come to dominate and local luingistic oddities have died out.  Nothing to do with the Comedy Company, who used bogan to describe a dork.  Kathy Mole would have been all over a real bogan.

Of course, I now live in the US, so could be talking out of my arse.

Ian says:

07:32am | 11/03/10

I have sometimes speculated that the term Bevan originates in a time wjhen Brisbane’s west (and Ipswich) had a high proportion of Welsh migrants. Bevin Boys might also be related given the number of coal mines in Ipswich.

I too could be talking out of my arse.

rob says:

10:24am | 25/07/10

i grew up in brissie and was a bevin but before we where bevins we were called meatheads on the north side of brisbane in the 70;s bogan and westy was a southen thing rob