sloak.html -
noun and adjective (
People and Society)
noun : An upper-class and
fashionable but conventional young person, especially one who lives in London. (Also abbreviated to Sloane or Sloanie.) adjective: Characteristic of this class of person; adopting the style of
dress , manner, or lifestyle of a Sloane. Etymology: Formed by replacing the Lone of Lone Ranger (a well-known hero of western stories and films) with Sloane (part of the name of Sloane Square in London, in or
near which many young people of this background live). The formation takes advantage of the shared sound to make a blend of the two names.
History and Usage:
This allusive name for a social group was coined by Peter York in Harpers & Queen magazine in 1975: The Sloane Rangers...are the nicest British Girl. Although not exclusively limited to young women, the term Sloane Ranger was at first
mostly associated with the stereotype of the upper-class young woman who had
been to one of the best schools, shopped at the smartest shops, and socialized in the 'right' circles (that is, with people whose wealth was inherited rather than earned). By 1982 the nickname had proved successful enough for an Official Sloane Ranger Handbook to be published (providing a British counterpart for the
American Preppie Handbook), and the term started to be applied more widely to the whole class of people (including young men, otherwise known as Hooray Henries)
who enjoyed the Sloane lifestyle. Sloane Ranger was abbreviated to Sloane in the original Peter York article; Sloanie followed in the early eighties. The quality of being like a Sloane Ranger is Sloaneness. By the end of the eighties the
idea of the Sloane Ranger already seemed a little dated; however, the
type continued to exist, and the name had started a fashion for humorous terms for social types
that lived on through the eighties and into the nineties, starting with yuppie and still generating new variations. Sloane Rangers hesitate to use the
term 'breeding'
now (of people, not animals) but that's what
background means. Ann Barr & Peter York The Official Sloane
Ranger Handbook (1982), p.
10 She
has to be literally beaten by her mother into marrying Cary Elwes-Guildford--who resembles a low-grade Sloanie with a taste for whores and bad liquor. Listener 5 June 1986, p.
35 Jeremy Taylor, one-time organiser of the Gatecrasher's Ball--a Sloanie teenage rave--was behind the party. Independent 3 July 1989, p. 3
