Chad is the most common name given to the traditional
graffiti caricature of a man peeking over a wall. (see
Mr. Chad for an
ASCII rendition, sans caption) These daubings proliferated during the
Second World War, where they would be accompanied by slogans such as "
Wot, no beer?" and "Wot, no eggs?" (
rationing you see). As with the famous slogan "
Kilroy was here", there are many stories surrounding the origin of this image. It is widely believed to have originated, or at least been widely distributed, by staff at
army and
air force facilities, where there would be many opportune moments, locations and situations prompting its appearance ("Wot, no
bombs?").
One possibility is the name "Chad" came from the movie Chad Hanna, inferring that the large-nosed caricature is of Humphrey Bogart. Another, ultra-dubious story claims that the image came from air force electronics classes - after a diagram of a sine wave marked with two +'s under the two humps and a - in the central valley (and the slogan "Wot, no electrons?"). Still occasionally seen, but more often in the pages of the Beano than in tag-daubed inner city ghettoes.