# Are "chunter" and "manky" Liverpool or Canadian slang words? And I'm not quite sure what they mean..
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 20, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947 "2015-09-20T14:29:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/1 "2015-09-20T14:29:53Z")
This is from a re-review of _Backbeat_, the Beatles biopic (sorry, “biographical moving picture”) told through the eyes of the sixth Beatle, Stu Sutcliffe.
Here’s the paragraph:
At moments like this, Iain Softley’s film is slyly subversive of its genre. For one thing, for a picture about ‘the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world’, it’s amazingly offhand about the music. The Beatles chunter along through manky cover versions of Chuck Berry, early Motown, Johnny Mercer and “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” - and it all sounds sort of about how you’d expect a band in a third-rate club on the Reeperbahn to sound.
Cite: [SteynOnline](http://www.steynonline.com/7184/backbeat)
I get the sense, sort of, and offhand I can’t think of non-slang words to match them:
“Chunter”: 1) dutifully re-create without interest? 2) muddle through with technical difficulty?
“Manky”: 1) Old and recognizable? 2) Shopworn? 3) Predictable?
The author of the review is Canadian-American (I think). Or, perhaps he was using Liverpudlian slang for a touch of droll reference. (Actually, for that Hamburg slang would be cute too, I think.)
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### Author:  [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/2 "2015-09-20T14:33:52Z")
Brit here, not Liverpudlian, but anyway: manky means crappy. Chunter in this context means plod.
Plod as in trundle slowly, not as in police.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/3 "2015-09-20T14:37:59Z")
> [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](#):
>
> Brit here, not Liverpudlian, but anyway: manky means crappy. Chunter in this context means plod.
>
> Plod as in trundle slowly, not as in police.
Thanks—and man that was quick. (I was still writing a bleg to the mods to correct my hed, where autocorrect gagged at “chunter” and put “chunky.”)
“…as in police” means like “plodding [slow, in an ungainly manner] police work?”
And “trundle” is good. Never thought of a performance as a slowly trundling one, but it is a vivid description.
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### Author:  [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/4 "2015-09-20T15:07:59Z")
As a Canadian, to me ‘manky’ would be more associated with something that is spoiled or rank. Not very common, but a term I would use occasionally. Never heard of ‘chunter’.
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/5 "2015-09-20T15:51:40Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#):
>
> As a Canadian, to me ‘manky’ would be more associated with something that is spoiled or rank. Not very common, but a term I would use occasionally. Never heard of ‘chunter’.
I’ve heard, and occasionally used, manky in this sense. It’s pretty rarely used in the US, AFAIK.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/6 "2015-09-20T16:01:59Z")
As an extra data point, I heard David Mitchell use “manky” on an episode of _QI_ once.
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### Author:  [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/7 "2015-09-20T16:17:13Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> “…as in police” means like "plodding [slow, in an ungainly manner] police work?
**Plod** in the UK has become slang for **Police** , inspired by Mr Plod, the policeman in Enid Blyton’s [Noddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noddy_%28character%29)/Toyland books.
ETA: I’m not a Brit but I am an Enid Blyton fan, which is how I know the reference.
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### Author:  [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/8 "2015-09-20T16:46:47Z")
Isn’t Canada’s Anglo population mostly descended from Scottish and English northerners? It would make sense.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/9 "2015-09-20T17:41:49Z")
Manky was not-uncommon slang in 80s and 90s California. Along with “janky.” The other one is unfamiliar to me except that it sounds uniquely British.
> [@protoboard](#):
>
> Isn’t Canada’s Anglo population mostly descended from Scottish and English northerners? It would make sense.
Compared to the US, 2.7x more Candians claim English ancestry and almost 9x more claim Scottish ancestry, as a proportion of the population within the countries (although that’s not including Scots-Irish, I think?).
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### Author:  [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/10 "2015-09-20T18:40:20Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> This is from a re-review of _Backbeat_, the Beatles biopic (sorry, “biographical moving picture”) […]
You so funny!
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/11 "2015-09-20T20:01:26Z")
“The Beatles chunter along through manky cover versions . . .”
This American is reminded of that other parallel classic Britishism: “. . . the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood . . .”
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### Author:  [@Hairy\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hairy_Bob)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/12 "2015-09-20T21:04:13Z")
to say that I’d normally take chunter as a synonym for grumble, as in “I told him where to go and he walked off chuntering to himself.”
And I agree with manky meaning something that is past it’s best, as in “Throw those manky old sausages out, they’re stinking up the fridge.”
Mancky, on the other hand, I have heard used as a term for a resident of Manchester.
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### Author:  [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/13 "2015-09-20T21:19:16Z")
Manky is a fairly common UK word, in fact I would say it is on the borderline between being slang and being part of the standard lexicon. For example “a manky banana” would be a fairly standard way to describe an overripe banana.
Chunter, at least where I’m from, is less common, however if someone said “I’ll chunter my way through this [piece of work]” I would understand it as “I’ll plod my way through this”.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/14 "2015-09-20T21:44:41Z")
I’ve never heard of “chunter”. I HAVE heard of “chunder”, but that’s somewhat different.
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### Author:  [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/15 "2015-09-20T22:43:31Z")
As a non-Liverpudlian who’s lived and worked in the city for a couple of years in my time, the statement strikes me as neither particularly local nor out of the ordinary.
Neither “chunter” nor “manky” are Liverpudlian or even Canadian. They’re pretty standard British slang.
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### Author:  [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/16 "2015-09-21T00:20:14Z")
I had always thought that “chuntering” was invented by V.S. Naipaul, since the only place I’d ever seen it was here:
_Pat replied, but her weeping made it difficult for her to speak, and while she faltered, saying how unfair he was, Naipaul became calm, rational, colder, and did not give an inch._
```
**“Stop chuntering, Patsy. You’re just chuntering, and you have no idea of what you’re talking about.”**
*The tears kept rolling down Pat’s cheeks, and though she dabbed at her face she could not stanch the flow. *
```
[http://mreadz.com/new/index.php?id=332328&pages=9](http://mreadz.com/new/index.php?id=332328&pages=9)
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/17 "2015-09-21T00:39:26Z")
> [@yawuntz](#):
>
> \*The tears kept rolling down Pat’s cheeks, and though she dabbed at her face she could not stanch the flow. \*
At least, that uses _stanch_ correctly!
How often have we seen _stanch_ and _staunch_ used interchangeably? That grates on my nerves.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/18 "2015-09-21T00:45:31Z")
The first time I ever came across ‘manky’…actually, probably a first time for many of you, even if you don’t remember it:
> [@](#):
>
> Tim: ‘There he is!’
> King Arthur: ‘Where?’
> Tim: ‘There!’
> King Arthur: ‘What? Behind the rabbit?’
> Tim: ‘It is the rabbit!’
> King Arthur: ‘You silly sod!’
> Tim: ‘What?’
> King Arthur: ‘You got us all worked up!’
> Tim: ‘Well, that’s no ordinary rabbit.’
> King Arthur: ‘Ohh.’
> Tim: ‘That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!’
> Sir Robin: ‘You tit! I soiled my armor I was so scared!’
> Tim: ‘Look, that rabbit’s got a vicious streak a mile wide! It’s a killer!’
> Sir Galahad: ‘Get stuffed!’
> Tim: ‘He’ll do you up a treat, mate.’
> Sir Galahad: ‘Oh, yeah?’
> Sir Robin: ‘You **manky** Scots git!’
> Tim: ‘I’m warning you!’
> Sir Robin: ‘What’s he do? Nibble your bum?’
> Tim: ‘He’s got huge, sharp… er… He can leap about. Look at the bones!’
> King Arthur: ‘Go on, Bors. Chop his head off!’
> Sir Bors: ‘Right! Silly little bleeder. One rabbit stew comin’ right up!’
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/19 "2015-09-21T00:54:31Z")
> [@yawuntz](#):
>
> I had always thought that “chuntering” was invented by V.S. Naipaul . . .
Goes back to 1599, according to the OED, and originated probably in Yorkshire.
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### Author:  [@yawuntz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawuntz)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chunter-and-manky-liverpool-or-canadian-slang-words-and-im-not-quite-sure-what-they-mean/731947/20 "2015-09-21T01:02:24Z")
Yeah it’s definitely got a British sound to it all right. Why I assumed Naipaul invented it, dunno. Except that you really never see it anywhere.
Agreed re “stanch.” It’s like a luxury to see it used properly, and staunch kicked to the curb. Used to be, you could count on it. Not no more ☹
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