{{Short description|Derogatory term for petty criminals}} {{Redirect|Neds|the 2010 film|Neds (film)}} '''Ned''' is a Scottish term for ruffian or hooligan, akin to the word ''yob''.<ref name=dsl>{{cite web|title=ned|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/|work=Dictionary of the Scots Language|access-date=25 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827121147/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/|archive-date=27 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/1435245.stm BBC News - Ned arrives - it's official], 12 July 2001, retrieved 8 May 2006</ref><ref name="Collins">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4075012.stm BBC News - Neds make it into the dictionary], 9 June 2005, reporting definition in ''Collins English Dictionary''; retrieved 8 May 2006</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-19544835 Middle class kids 'attracted to ned and chav culture'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112195420/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-19544835 |date=12 November 2018 }}. BBC News. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2013.</ref>
==Early use of term== The ''Oxford Living Dictionaries'' dates the term to the early 19th century,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ned |title=Oxford English Dictionary, definition of "ned", retrieved 1 June 2011 |access-date=1 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720034926/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ned |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and similar use of the shortened form of Edward may have been popularised by the notoriety of Ned Kelly.<ref name="m245" /> Examples are plentiful through the 20th century. Former Chief Constable of Glasgow Sir Percy Sillitoe noted use of the word by gangs and police in the 1930s.<ref name="Sillitoe">{{cite book |author=Sillitoe, Percy |title=Cloak without dagger |year=1955 |page=143}}</ref> Leader columns of newspapers in the 1960s featured the term in relation to teenage gang violence.<ref name="Stirling">Stirling Observer counties edition, "Stop the Rise of the teen-ager" July 1960</ref> In a 1962 book, the crime writer and broadcaster Bill Knox referred to stolen cars turning up after having been taken "by a bunch of neds who want transport for some house-breaking job". He publicised the term more widely in his 1970s police report series ''Crimedesk'', made and broadcast by STV.<ref name="chav-nots">{{cite news |url=http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/The-chavs-and--chavnots.4307141.jp |title=The chavs and chav-nots in a bitter war of words |date=29 August 2007 |work=Scotsman.com |access-date=3 February 2011 }}<br>{{cite book |author=Knox, Bill |author-link=Bill Knox |title=Little drops of blood |publisher=Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday |year=1962 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7FHAAAAYAAJ&q=neds |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228085634/https://books.google.com/books?ei=qQlLTaXOBoiqhAer0OC8Dg&ct=result&id=i7FHAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22bill+knox%22+neds&q=neds |archive-date=28 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> In his 1975 novel ''Rally to Kill'', Knox described "neds" as Glasgow's "tag for small-time hoodlums", saying that "neds" and their families from the Gorbals had been rehoused elsewhere in the city, "taking their violence with them to the new areas".<ref name="rally">{{cite book |author= Knox, Bill |author-link=Bill Knox |title=Rally to kill |publisher=Published for the Crime Club by Doubleday |year=1975 |url=https://archive.org/details/rallytokill00knox |url-access= registration |quote= neds. }}</ref> A 1982 analysis of crime fiction notes Knox's 1977 novel ''Pilot Error'' describing Strathclyde Police as being unconcerned about "neds" getting hurt in a fight as long as no one else is affected and translates the term as "Glasgow slang for hoods".<ref name="isbn0-87972-188-X">{{cite book |author=Dove, George N. |title=The police procedural |publisher=Bowling Green University Popular Press |location=Bowling Green, Ohio |year=1982 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/policeprocedural00dove/page/79 79–80] |isbn=0-87972-188-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/policeprocedural00dove/page/79 }}</ref>
In his 2002 autobiography ''Granny Made Me an Anarchist'', the Glaswegian writer Stuart Christie described the Glasgow "Neds" as preceding the Teddy Boys of 1955 as a hangover from the poverty of the 1930s. These "Neds" had long hair parted in the middle and smoothed down with liquid paraffin, commonly with a "dowp" tucked behind their ear as a fire hazard, which in urban legend had resulted in one "Ned" getting severe burns. He describes them as slouching along with their elbows projecting aggressively, wearing a white silk scarf tucked into their tightly buttoned jacket, and carrying a cut-throat razor in its breast pocket. Over this, on outings for a fight or a dance, they allegedly wore an old tweed overcoat with weapons such as hatchets or hammers concealed in the lining. According to Christie, the "Teds" who followed them also had a reputation for wild behaviour, but were too concerned about their clothes to engage in aggression.<ref name="Christie">{{cite book |author=Christie, Stuart |year=2002 |title=My Granny Made Me an Anarchist |publisher=Oil & Gas USSR |pages=87–88 |isbn=1-873976-14-3 }}</ref>
==Ned culture== In 2003, the Scottish Socialist Party MSP Rosie Kane tabled a question to the Scottish Parliament condemning use of the word "ned" which she said was degrading and insulting to young people as it stood for "non-educated delinquent".<ref name="Holyrood">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2964378.stm|title=Holyrood urged to protect 'neds'|date=5 June 2003|access-date=6 February 2011|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207180729/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2964378.stm|archive-date=7 December 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> This is a widespread folk etymology, but appears to be a backronym arising long after the term came into use.<ref name="urlProgramme Note: NEDS">{{cite web|url=http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/gft_blog/2398_programme_note_neds|title=Programme Note: NEDS|author=Dr Alistair Fraser|year=2011|publisher=Glasgow Film Theatre|access-date=5 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726105923/http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/gft_blog/2398_programme_note_neds|archive-date=26 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The English-made alcoholic drink Buckfast is very popular in Scotland and often associated with ned culture.
A 2011 study using ethnography as a methodology of linguistic research found working-class adolescent males in a high school in the south side of Glasgow deploying a number of distinct social identities: * those identified as "neds" by themselves and others * "alternatives" (sometimes called "Goths" or "Moshers") who enjoyed rock music and wore black clothes * "sports" who enjoyed football and rugby and wore trainers and sports clothing * "schoolies" who generally did not play sports but played musical instruments.
Many pupils in the study distanced themselves from the stereotypes. Each group had a characteristic way of speaking and used this to create social identity. Those in the "ned" category, for example, lowered tones in words such as "cat" and extended the vowels. This in itself was insufficient to identify someone as being a "ned": consideration of clothing and social activities was also needed. Both the "neds" and the "sports" had an attitude of enjoying engaging in physical violence while the "schoolies" avoided violence, but antisocial behaviour was often only carried out by a small minority of adolescents. The "neds" were just as concerned about violence and crime as the other groups, but, unlike them, socialised in the street rather than being engaged in the school culture.<ref name="Study">{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/study-shows-neds-display-identity-through-their-clothes-and-accents-1.1081106 |title=Study shows 'neds display identity through their clothes and accents'|author=Andrew Denholm|date=21 January 2011 |newspaper=The Herald (Glasgow) |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008110126/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/study-shows-neds-display-identity-through-their-clothes-and-accents-1.1081106 |archive-date=8 October 2012 |url-status=live }}<br>{{cite news |url=http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Neds-have-their-own-style.6697606.jp |title='Neds' have their own style of pronunciation to distinguish themselves, study says - Scotsman.com News |author=Fiona MacLeod |date=21 January 2011 |newspaper=The Scotsman |access-date=6 February 2011 |location=Edinburgh }}<br>{{cite web |url=http://www.bcu.ac.uk/pme/school-of-english/news/neds |title=PME School Of English : Neds - it's all in the voice |date=20 January 2011 |publisher=Birmingham City University |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314112709/http://www.bcu.ac.uk/pme/school-of-english/news/neds |archive-date=14 March 2012 |url-status=live }}<br>{{cite web |url=http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/postgraduateresearch/scholarships/macrobertsonscholarshipreports/robertlawson-universityofarizona/ |title=University of Glasgow :: Postgraduate Research :: Robert Lawson - University of Arizona |author=Robert Lawson |access-date=6 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722000655/http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/postgraduateresearch/scholarships/macrobertsonscholarshipreports/robertlawson-universityofarizona/ |archive-date=22 July 2009 }} and [http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_104437_en.pdf Full Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924062946/http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_104437_en.pdf |date=24 September 2012 }}</ref>
In Dundee, the Roma word ''gadgie'' (a non-Roma man) has been used historically; however, ''ned'' has been introduced by popular culture. In all other parts of Scotland and in parts of northeast England (particularly Newcastle upon Tyne), ''gadgie'' remains current with its Roma meaning.
British psychologist Adrian Raine has expressed contempt for what he feels is the glorification of ned culture in the Scottish media. He has also opined that ned culture is closely correlated with psychopathy.<ref>Raine, Adrian. "21st Century Television's Faltering Moral Compass". ''The Economist''. 8 April 2009.</ref>
By 2006, the term chav from the South of England<ref>[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/264253?redirectedFrom=chav# OED online, retrieved 21/3/11]</ref> was used across the United Kingdom with ned often seen as the synonymous Scottish term.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Other local terms are "schemies" in Edinburgh and "scallies" in Liverpool.<ref name="Beal">{{cite book |author=Beal, Joan C. |title=Language and Region (Intertext) |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2006 |pages=53–54 |isbn=0-415-36601-1 }}</ref>
==In popular culture== Neds became a staple of Scottish comedy and neddish characters feature in sketch shows such as ''Chewin' the Fat'',<ref name="Collins" /><ref name="m245">{{cite web |last=McLean |first=David |title=The Glasgow ned and the word's mysterious 19th century origins |website=Glasgow Live |date=27 July 2022 |url=https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/glasgow-ned-words-mysterious-19th-24599607 |access-date=24 October 2025}}</ref> ''Limmy's Show''<ref>[https://www.glasgowbell.co.uk/was-limmy-behind-one-of-glasgows-most-notorious-websites/ Was Limmy behind one of Glasgow’s most notorious websites?], Robbie Armstrong, ''The Bell'', 11 January 2025</ref> and ''Burnistoun'', and sitcom ''Still Game''. Scottish soap opera ''River City'' has featured neds such as Shellsuit Bob.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Traynor|first1=Frances|title=BBC Scotland finally takes the wraps off its new show, River City|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/pounds+10m+SOAP+SET%3B+BBC+Scotland+finally+takes+the+wraps+off+its+new+...-a090177323|newspaper=Daily Record|access-date=19 January 2018|date=7 August 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120618/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/pounds+10m+SOAP+SET%3B+BBC+Scotland+finally+takes+the+wraps+off+its+new+...-a090177323|archive-date=19 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Neds'' is a 2010 film by director Peter Mullan.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11413830 |title=Peter Mullan's Neds wins film awards |work=BBC News |date=26 September 2010 |access-date=15 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629024730/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11413830 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2020 Graeme Armstrong novel, ''The Young Team'', set in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire a few miles east of Glasgow and narrated by a gang member in the local dialect, focuses on the 'ned culture' of the region in the early 21st century.<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-young-team-graeme-armstrong-2077037?amp Book review: The Young Team, by Graeme Armstrong], Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman, 5 March 2020</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/13/the-young-team-graeme-armstrong-review The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong review – a swaggering, incendiary debut], Jude Cook, The Guardian, 13 March 2020</ref>
==See also== * Chav * Dres * Flaite * Football casuals * Glasgow gangs * Gopnik * Skeet (Newfoundland) * Suedehead
== References == {{reflist|2}}
== External links == {{wiktionary|ned}} *[https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/chewinthefat/neds/neducation.shtml Chewin the Fat - Neducation]
Category:Class-related slurs Category:Criminal subcultures Category:Scottish words and phrases Category:Stereotypes of the working class Category:Working-class culture in the United Kingdom Category:Youth culture in the United Kingdom Category:Socioeconomic stereotypes