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

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" !!!!!!!
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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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...

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.

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.

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.

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!

That's just plain bizarre.

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.