Wanker
 

Does anyone else find that their American friends really pick up on this word?

Quite a few I know now use it. The funny thing is they don't really know how to use it properly and a lot of them don't really know what it means.

Due to my brother-in-law the word gets used a lot at a local power plant. So much so that at a big area meeting the other week one of the top brass ended the meeting by asking the question 'can anyone tell me what a wanker is?'.

Some people say 'bollocks' but nowhere near as many who say 'wanker'. Good stuff :thumbup:

Re: Wanker
 

Oh yes..I have heard this word used many times innapropriately. Best story I heard was from some Aussie friends who went to a football game over here and were introduced by their US host to his wife and family as being "really great people, a real couple of wankers" !!!!!!! :ohmy:
Luckily the host's family didn't know what it meant and my friends kept quiet until they could pull the host aside and explain :D

Re: Wanker
 

Yes, they love it, once they know it they say it in the most inappropriate places, but it is funny to watch!!

Re: Wanker
 

My wifes favorite swear word is Bastard.

And when I say something is "Bollocks" She replys, It's not "BollLOX" she can't pronounce it right so the argument normally turns into me laughing at her.

Never heard any Yank say wanker before, I've shouted it at a few of them while driving so maybe it will spread.

Re: Wanker
 

From the international wiki

The term wanker originated from British slang in the 1940s, based on the verb wank.[1] Wanker literally means "one who wanks (masturbates)". It is normally intended as a general insult rather than as an accusation. It conveys contempt, not commentary on sexual habits. Wanker has similar meanings and overtones to American pejoratives like jerk,[2] and jerk-off. One connotation is of someone self-obsessed or a show-off [3] Another implication is that the wanker is unable to find a sexual partner.

By the 1970s, the general meaning of wanker had shifted from its literal origin (as a masturbator) to that of a generic insult,[4] i.e. "a contemptible person". This shift in usage is comparable with that of dick, arse or jerk.

The word has developed a metaphorical usage, in which to wank or to be a wanker implies egotistical and self-indulgent behaviour. This is the dominant meaning in Australia.

Re: Wanker
 

My OH has spent enough time in the UK and in my own company to use pretty much any British slang I do. However, does the dear man know how to use the terms correctly?

Does he buggery!

I alternate between getting extremely irate that he's misused the word "wanker" AGAIN and laughing hysterically at him because even after eight years he's still clueless.

Gawd bless 'im. :wub:

Re: Wanker
 

I love my neighbors (most of them), but they faint if anyone says 'god' or 'hell' let alone bastard, bollock or wanker.

Re: Wanker
 

That's quality :-)

I'm glad it's not just me who has some American friends that use 'wanker' totally out of context.

Check out Katie Couric (CBS evening news anchor) using 'bollocks' in a real random way here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiUSQ...e=channel_page

(it's on about 1min 13secs)

Yes Katie you've been in London for a few days and have picked up on the lingo - but please learn how to use it properly before putting it on your youTube channel!!!

Re: Wanker
 

If they are American then just tell them that 'wanker' is a polite way of calling someone an idiot - or alternately (as the English speak English so crazily) it is similar to 'buddy' if said in the right way.

They'll soon be happily using it...

Re: Wanker
 

I guess it depends which Americans you hang out with. This is not exactly a new word in US slang (I remember using it in high school 20 years ago), and yes, it was used in the same sense it's used in the UK. It was definitely not a synonym for "buddy". That was Massachusetts, your mileage my vary.

What cracks me up is the (relatively) common usage of "******" in the UK. They seem to mean different things: UK= derogatory word for a man, US= extremely profane and derogatory word for a woman that, when mentioned, will basically result in the expulsion of the utterer from civil society (see the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode concerning this...). This word is the nuclear option, a true room clearer. User discretion is advised.

Also, in the US, "Yankee" is an antiquated term American southerners use for American northerners. It's well past its sell by date and Americans would only use the term sarcastically.

Re: Wanker
 

Love that episode! "I guess in retrospect I should have just called him a pussy?".

My wife picked up on this difference too when visiting the UK.

Also I've found that piss and bastard seem to be less offensive over here in the USA than in the UK.

Re: Wanker
 

hmmm
my North Carolina native MIL uses "Yankee" all the time in the following manner, so I suspect plenty of other southerners still do. She tends to use it in a mildly perjorative way when visiting us in NJ and describing any lapse in decourm obviously unthinkable south of the Mason-Dixon Line, e.g. "these Yankee drivers are SO aggressive", etc.

Re: Wanker
 

People think they are funny kidding around calling me it... I don't think they get it that it really doesn't apply to a woman. I am usally nice about it and don't tell them how stupid they sound!

Re: Wanker
 

That's just plain bizarre.

Re: Wanker
 

For some unexplainable reason that's the word I hate the most...although it's used often on US TV when ass or bitch is bleeped out.:unsure:

Re: Wanker
 

Have you noticed how when they bleep goddamn over here they bleep the god and leave the damn. Weird?

Re: Wanker
 

They have weird standards. Like you can say ass, but not asshole.

You can keep a PG-13 rating over here if the word f**k is used only once. But it can't be used in a sexual context. That is, you can say "We're f**ked!", you can't say "I f**ked her!". Do the latter... Instant R rating.

Re: Wanker
 

Well there goes my 20-year campaign to teach Americans that 'wanker' is another word for 'policeman' or 'officer'.

Re: Wanker
 

Close enough.:whatchutalkingabout

Re: Wanker
 

Am I using it in the proper context when I call a guy a 'f@cking wanker' when he cuts me off while driving? :blink:

Re: Wanker
 

I would say yes only if you can determine that he is a multitasker:unsure:

Re: Wanker
 

Well now you don't have to wonder if an American is a "wanker" - he may tell you by what he's wearing:-


http://i25.tinypic.com/wsmveo.jpg http://i27.tinypic.com/wvzont.jpg

wank. (wa ng k.) - 1.) a clever technique or person or the result of such cleverness

WANK:
/wangk/ [Columbia University: probably by mutation
from Commonwealth slang] Used much as hack is
elsewhere, as a noun denoting a clever technique or person or the
result of such cleverness. May describe (negatively)
the act of hacking for hacking's sake ("Quit wanking, let's go
get supper!") or (more positively) a wizard. "wanky"
describes something particularly clever (a person, program, or
algorithm). Conversations can also get wanky when
there are too many wanks involved. This excess wankiness is
signalled by an overload of the "wankometer" (compare
bogometer).
When the wankometer overloads, the conversation's
subject must be changed, or all non-wanks will leave.

Usage: US only. In
Britain and the Commonwealth this word is *extremely*
rude and is best avoided unless one intends to give
offense. (NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!!)

Re: Wanker
 

no ****** is a derogatory word for part of female anatomy, and is used equally for both sexes when men say it to their friends etc they are being friendly , "You are such a ******" when said to a women or strange man! not good! very bad!
BUT ****** was about the last taboo word left in the UK so obviously it had to come out!

Re: Wanker
 

I told the Mrs to put some "Wellie" into it, yesterday.

I shall leave the important information out for comedy value.


An avalanche of confusion followed.

Re: Wanker
 

Sayings That I Have Used That Don't Make All That Much Sense When You Think About Them

:lol:

Re: Wanker
 

That's a stupid site :p

Re: Wanker
 

Good job they weren't in the dr's office when I yelled Jesus Christ when my knee jammed while trying to get on the exam table.


Meanwhile the dr asst. who belongs to one of the fundamentalist sects that wear long hemlines and grow their hair long, just stood their with her mouth open.............


Bless her heart, :D

Re: Wanker
 

OMG, if I had a nickel for everytime I hear that saying, I'd be a rich woman...it's beyond annoying to hear constantly around here :sneaky:

Re: Wanker
 

:lol:
At least it wasn't a 'Jesus F'in Christ'!

Oh dear.
I hate having to amend my Valley Girl 'oh_my_GODs' into 'omigosh' when I'm trying to stay polite. :)

Re: Wanker
 

That's my fave curse. :D It's been known to slip out at ackward moments.

Re: Wanker
 

My 9 yr old daughter growing up in Italy knows what it means after this conversation we had in the car last year ...........

I didn't know it then but now thanks to her, I know that I swear under my breath when driving and that kids have MASSIVE ears.

Italian driver cuts me up on roundabout and makes me brake hard and swerve.

I say - very quietly - "you pr*ck !"

Daugther says, "Mummy - what does pr*ck mean?"

I reply, 'It's a naughty English word that Mummy just used to describe that stupid man that nearly made Mummy crash the car."

Daughter says,

"It's okay Mummy - I was only wondering you know because you usually say Wanker!"

Re: Wanker
 

:lol:

Re: Wanker
 

heh, well based on the 'I haz the dumb' earlier today, this one jumped out of my favorites for you!

Re: Wanker
 

That deserves one of my special smileys.

http://www.smileyshut.com/smileys/ne...ng/lol-045.gif

Re: Wanker
 

Shortly after we moved here we learned that my sons elementary school girls volleyball team was called 'The Shaggers'

Re: Wanker
 

I like to sing about it

Re: Wanker
 

That reminds me of the 'short shag sale' advertisement at the local carpet store. :rofl:

Re: Wanker
 

RAY!

My dad has that on vinyl.

Classic.

Re: Wanker
 

But it's not George Formby. It's Ivor Biggun, also known as Doc Cox from That's Life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/..._b_148x220.jpg

Re: Wanker
 

Another 5 points for the title