I is for Interesting British Words

In honour of the Royal Wedding in England, Merrian-Webster has created its "Top 10 British Words."  Although Merriam-Webster is a dictionary of American English, it contains a range of words rarely heard outside Britain. Here are some of our favourites.

#1  Prat:  a stupid or foolish person; probably comes from the 16th century prat meaning "buttocks."  The original 'pratfall' was a fall on the buttocks.

#2 Twee:  affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint; a baby-talk alteration of the word 'sweet.'  It first appeared in print in a 1905 issue of the British magazine Punch.

#3 Knackered:  tired, exhausted; the slang knackered means to 'kill or tire.'  Etymologists cannot be sure if there is a link between the adjective and the word that means 'horse-slaughter.' 

#4 Jiggery-Pokery:  dishonest or suspicious activity, nonsense; it is an alteration of 'joukery-pawkery.'  Both joukery and pawkery are English regionalisms for 'trickery.'

#5 Plonk:  cheap or inferior wine; is a shortening of the earlier plink-plonk and may be a modification of 'vin blanc' which means "white wine" in French. 

#6 Chunter: to talk in a low inarticulate way, mutter; is sometimes used as a synonym of "complain."  The word is probably imitative in origin, when people are chutering and sounds a bit like "chunter chunter" (or mutter). 

#7 Whinge:  to complain fretfully or whine; the Old English ancestor meant "to moan." 

#8 Gormless:  lacking intelligence, stupid; the word 'guam' exists in some English dialects and means "attention or understanding."  Someone without 'guam' lacks understanding.

#9 Boffin: a scientific expert and especially one involved in technological research; dates back t0 1945.  Although its origin remains a mystery, it may have originated with scientists engaged in wartime efforts.

#10 Pukka: genuine, authentic, first-class; Chef Jamie Oliver rejuvenated 'pukka' with his BBC series 'Pukka Tukka.'  That's fitting since pukka comes from the Hindi and Urdu words for "cooked" and "solid."