I feel quite strongly about some things, one of them being that the current funding crisis is driving the British Health Service t... WordPress.com Spiv - Wikipedia Other suggestions have been made, most commonly noting that spiv is also a Romani word for a sparrow, implying the person is a pet... Wikipedia Neil Rackham really wanted us all to be SPIV sales people Apr 10, 2014 —
Enter the spiv. He was the man on the street corner who "knew a guy" or had "fallen off the back of a lorry" merchandise. He traded in stolen ration books, counterfeit coupons, and luxury goods that were officially unavailable. For many weary British citizens, the spiv was a necessary evil—a source of small comforts in a world of grey scarcity. Anatomy of an Archetype: The Look I feel quite strongly about some things, one
Often in loud checks or stripes, mimicking the "zoot suits" popular in the United States. He was the man on the street corner
A thin, manicured line that signaled vanity and a lack of manual labor. Anatomy of an Archetype: The Look Often in
Today, the term "spiv" is occasionally revived by British politicians or journalists to describe unscrupulous financial speculators or "get-rich-quick" entrepreneurs. While the silk ties and pencil mustaches are gone, the spirit of the man living by his wits on the edge of the law remains a recurring theme in the British psyche.
In some contexts, a spiv can be:
The spiv’s "golden age" occurred between 1939 and 1954, a period dominated by strict rationing and austerity in Britain. As the government restricted everything from gasoline and meat to silk stockings and chocolate, a massive black market emerged to fill the gap.