povo en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Probably a blend of poverty + -o (diminutive suffix), owing to the term's Australian origins. Alternatively, borrowed from Portuguese povo (“common people; the working class”).
Meanings
-
(Australia, UK, derogatory, slang) Poor, penniless.
It feels “weirdly liberating” for him to now have thousands of people commenting under his videos about how they’re proud to be povvo.
2024 April 7, Eleanor Morgan, “Are you rich and ridiculous? TikTok comedian Shabaz Ali has you in his sights”, in The Observer, →ISSN:And he's really adorbs. I've been spending time with him and his community in this really povo area in the Western suburbs [sc. of Sydney]. I've been like reading to him and just chilling and stuff. It's legit a seriously tragic environment.
2013, Chris Lilley, Ja'mie: Private School Girl, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Ja'mie King, HBO:The school wasn’t exclusively populated by the children of haughty elitists who wanted their baby geniuses shielded from povo “flat rats” either, (although I suspect there was a bit of that). Many wonderful, open minded people sent their children there, including middle class families who struggled financially to secure that promised leg up in life.
2017 June 17, Tara Kenny, “I was a poor kid at a wealthy private school. It gave me social mobility, but also a sense of shame”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:She went to some povo school down the street.
This is where, 30 years ago, the docking industry was destroyed, leading to one of the lengthiest industrial disputes in British history, causing a 20 per cent unemployment rate and casting Liverpool as a "povo city" (the jobless rate now stands at a respectable 4 per cent.)
2003 October 8, Carol Midgley, “It's Grim Up North”, in The Times, number 67888, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| povvo | alternative | lexicographic | |
| more povo | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most povo | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |