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chigger


a person who lives in the outskirts of Hobart. I would say it's fairly derogatory and actually is similar to calling someone a redneck!: You're a Chigger! Compare bevan, bog2, bogan, booner, boonie, feral, westie. Also, Chigga. [from the Hobart suburb of Chigwell]

Contributor's comments: Having lived in both Hobart and Sydney, I would say the usage and meaning is very similar to Sydney "westie".

Contributor's comments: I believe this refers to "Chigwell" an area just outside Hobart.


Contributor's comments: Chigwell is an outer suburb of Hobart.

Contributor's comments: [Firstly I'd like to observe that you don't have a 'place' category in your 'subject area of regionalism' options]. 'Chigger' refers to 'Chigwell', a none-too-salubrious suburb of Hobart.

Contributor's comments: I understand "chigger" to be a term derived from the name of a Hobart suburb, Chigwell, and was a derogatory comment based on its original status (in the 1950s) as a Housing Commission (ie low income) area.

Contributor's comments: 'Chigger' actually comes from a working class suburb called Chigwell, and in southern Tassie I remember hearing it in use as another way to say 'bogan' or 'yobbo'.

Contributor's comments: Having lived most of my life in Hobart I can confirm that the term chigger is in widespread use. Further that it stems from a suburb by the name of Chigwell. It has however been widened to potentially encompass any young person, male or female that appears to be of a lower socio-economic status. Chigwell was originally a Housing Department suburb.

Contributor's comments: "Chigger" refers to Chigwell, a northern suburb of Hobart settled as a post WWII blue collar and housing commission development area.

Contributor's comments: "Chigger" has its origins in the name of the suburb Chigwell - a lower socio-economic northern suburn of Hobart. It compares with the Sydney use of "westie" to describe people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Contributor's comments: "Chigger" for a dweller in Hobart's outer suburbs, certaily seems derogatory. It is the name for a kind of parasitic mite (or its larva) encountered by troops in jungle areas in World War 2.

Contributor's comments: Based on the suburb name Chigwell.

Contributor's comments: 'Chigger' is only used in Hobart and surrounding areas. I grew up near Burnie and didn't know of the suburb of Chigwell or the term Chigger until I went to Uni in Hobart.

Contributor's comments: I'm pretty sure that it comes from 'Chigwell' an outer northern suburb of Hobart and is thus an exact equivalent to Syney's 'westie'.

Contributor's comments: I have scanned the list of Tasmanian regionalisms and 'chigger' is the only one whose authenticity I call seriously into question. I have Lived in Tas all my life, and I have only heard the term once and even then it was rendered as 'Chiggie' and that was 26 years ago. In the phrase 'I'm just a Chiggie girl at heart.' As such it is an abbreviation of the outer Hobart suburb of Chigwell. I believe it's usage is all but defunct. It certainly doesn't denote 'redneck'-- a word in common usage in Tas.

Contributor's comments: I think the word "chigger" originated from the "red-necks" that lived in the suburb of Chigwell in Hobart. Now it is another general term for a red-neck.

Contributor's comments: I would suggest that this derives from the suburb of Chigwell. This suburb is popularly regarded as being at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.

Contributor's comments: Chigger is now used relatively widely in Northern Tasmania as well.

Contributor's comments: My children (aged 14 and 17) have reliably informed me that the term "chigger" is alive and well in Hobart. Chiggers are almost invariably bogans, however bogans are not restricted to the suburb of Chigwell.

Contributor's comments: In Hobart and Launceston, there is a species of bogan known as a "mallie", or "mally". They are still bogans, they just hang around the malls eg. Elizabeth St mall in Hobart.

Contributor's comments: similar to bogan, westie, etc. easily spotted by open flannie shirt, grotty heavy metal t-shirt underneath, tight jeans, mullet haircut. The word originated from Chigwell, a suburb of Hobart: "Check out that guy's desert boots. What a chigger!"

Contributor's comments: Here in Tassie, you often hear references to 'chigger jeans', which are the tight, often black, jeans worn by many lower-income males.

Contributor's comments: Chiggers are most certainly found in Tasmania, further to the information already added, it is important to note that a chigger can often be identified by their clothing which generally consists of tight black denim trousers, a flannelette cheque shirt and blundstone (blunnies) or Rossi work boots. The favoured hair style of a chigger is generally unwashed or mullet. Chiggers own a larger than normal proportion of Australia's Torana's and Gemini's, and are well known for their olympian brick throwing efforts.

Contributor's comments: Chigger is rarely used anymore in Hobart (replaced by Bogan), but people know what it means. The Launceston equivalent is 'Ravo', from the suburb Ravenswood.

Contributor's comments: I have lived in Hobart since birth (1961) and I have allways known the term "Chigger" to refer to a cheap type of woman that lived in or near the suburd of Chigwell.