# Brit dopers , whats a geezer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685 "2006-07-23T06:33:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/1 "2006-07-23T06:33:47Z")
After watching lock stock and two smoking barrels, one of the scenes got me to question this term. The only other time I have heard it being mentioned, is an old geezer. Thinking its more like an old chap or something like that. But the way the one character phrased it , it seemed to have become something more, something like a made man. Any info Declan ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/2 "2006-07-23T07:35:29Z")
It’s one of these terms with subtley-shifting meanings, depending on context, the speaker and the audience. Both of your interpretations are right - in most situations, it doesn’t have any very specific connotations, but used in a Cockney context, it does have a faint sense of praise or deference. Not necessarily to a wealthier person, but someone to be respected. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/3 "2006-07-23T10:02:09Z")
Well, from the _Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang_: **geezer** _n._ [late 19C+] **1** a man. a ‘bloke’. **2** [1940’s+] a confidence trickster’s victim. [dial. pron. of 15C _guiser_, a mummer (OED); E.P.\* wonders if Wellington’s troops might not have picked it up from the Basque _giza_, a man, during the Peninsular War (1808-1814).] **geezer** _n._ [1910-1940’s] (US) a drink of whisky or strong alcohol. [Lincolnshire dial. _geezer_, a state of drunkenness.] **geezer** _n._ (drugs) **1** [1920’s+] an injection of a narcotic drug. **2** [1920’s+] the equipment with which one injects. **3** [1960’s+] (US) a heroin addict. **geezer** _n._ [1980’s+] (Irish) a cat. [etymology unknown.] . . . Please note these definitions are given for completeness (at least as far as _Cassell’s_ is concerned). Notwithstanding the above, whenever I hear the word I think of [Paul Whitehouse](http://nickbrowne.coraider.com/2005/09/paul-whitehouse-wbi.html) in _The Fast Show_ who, amongst other characters, plays > [@](#): > > the ducking-and-diving wide boy Chris Jackson, aka ‘The Crafty Cockney’, who, being a ‘geezer, a little bit tasty, a little bit wooor and a little bit waayyy’, will ‘nick anything’ The photo next to the article is not that of the Chris Jackson character. Finally, one of the members of Status Quo is called ‘Geezer’ Butler. \*Presumably Eric Partridge. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/4 "2006-07-23T10:37:14Z")
Never mind what the dictionaries say. A geezer is normally just a bloke; an unnamed male human. “See that geezer over there with the big nose?”. Unhappily, lots of British people seem to have adopted the awful word “guy” instead, which is a pity because British English has so many of its own words for such a person. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/5 "2006-07-23T10:44:50Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Never mind what the dictionaries say. I am not entirely sure your view is consistent with the aim of these forums, which is to fight ignorance. My post is clear and unambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/6 "2006-07-23T11:16:07Z")
"Geezer"Butler plays bass and was the primary songwriter for Black Sabbath. Don’t know if this helps, but The Streets say that “Geezers need excitement” ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/7 "2006-07-23T11:25:14Z")
> [@Chez Guevara](#): > > Finally, one of the members of Status Quo is called ‘Geezer’ Butler. I think you mean one of the members of Black Sabbath. A check of Status Quo’s web page [http://www.statusquo.com/](http://www.statusquo.com/) doesn’t list Butler as a current member and doesn’t seem to have a list of former members. The BBC’s more extensive history of Status Quo [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/statusquo.shtml](http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/statusquo.shtml) doesn’t list Geezer Butler anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/8 "2006-07-23T11:35:18Z")
My apologies. And I just commented that we are trying to fight ignorance. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/9 "2006-07-23T13:54:18Z")
Chez Guevara, I don’t see how quoting every definition in _Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang_ helped much, since most of them are irrelevant to Declan’s question. According to the OED, “geezer” just means “man.” It tends to be used mostly in the phrase “old geezer,” which is why a North American might assume it refers strictly to an old man. In the U.K. though, it’s often used about a man who’s in some criminal enterprise, which is why in your one quote is used about a “wide boy,” which, as a North American might not know, is a particular type of criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/10 "2006-07-23T13:56:51Z")
I wrote: \> . . . why in your one quote is used about a “wide boy,” . . . I meant: \> . . . why in your one quote it’s used in reference to a “wide boy,” . . . ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/11 "2006-07-23T17:09:55Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Never mind what the dictionaries say. A geezer is normally just a bloke; an unnamed male human. “See that geezer over there with the big nose?”. > > Unhappily, lots of British people seem to have adopted the awful word “guy” instead, which is a pity because British English has so many of its own words for such a person. Of course the word ‘guy’ comes from Guy Fawkes day. Not exactly an Americanism. (Though I will admit that it has become so.) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/12 "2006-07-23T17:22:08Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > Of course the word ‘guy’ comes from Guy Fawkes day. Not exactly an Americanism. (Though I will admit that it has become so.) According to [Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=guy&searchmode=none), the current meaning is an Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/13 "2006-07-23T17:23:59Z")
There’s also the late, great [Ginger Geezer.](http://www.gingergeezer.net/home.html) ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/14 "2006-07-23T20:23:46Z")
Apologies. But dictionaries don’t always give the _right_ meaning of words. And my dislike of “guy” is entirely personal. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/15 "2006-07-23T23:34:24Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Chez Guevara, I don’t see how quoting every definition in _Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang_ helped much, since most of them are irrelevant to Declan’s question. According to the OED, “geezer” just means “man.” It tends to be used mostly in the phrase “old geezer,” which is why a North American might assume it refers strictly to an old man. In the U.K. though, it’s often used about a man who’s in some criminal enterprise, which is why in your one quote is used about a “wide boy,” which, as a North American might not know, is a particular type of criminal. I totally agree with you and unequivocally wihdraw my entire post. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/16 "2006-07-23T23:38:37Z")
I think you’re being a bit unfair on **Chez Guevara**. **Wendell Wagner** - I was interested to hear the various explanations of etymologies of ‘geezer’, from a source I would not have found by myself. Isn’t that what this place is about? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/17 "2006-07-24T10:39:21Z")
As an answer to Declan’s original question, the first half of Krokodil’s post was not only irrelevant, but the rambling quality of it made it more likely that someone could miss the real answer in the second half of his post. The fact that “geezer” has other meanings relevant to the subject of whiskey, drugs, and cats is nice to know, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the question in the OP. Declan wanted to know about the meaning of “man.” The answer is that, basically, “geezer” just means a man, although some people take it to mean particularly an old man and some take it to mean particularly a man associated with criminal enterprises. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/18 "2006-07-24T10:56:04Z")
> [@Leechboy](#): > > Don’t know if this helps, but The Streets say that “Geezers need excitement” In that context, I believe “geezers” tends towards specifially referring to their gender. > [@](#): > > Geezers need excitement > If their lives don’t provide them this > They incite violence But again, in contemporary usage, this does definitely not refer to old men, but young (drunken) men. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/19 "2006-07-24T12:38:56Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > As an answer to Declan’s original question, the first half of Krokodil’s post was not only irrelevant, but the rambling quality of it made it more likely that someone could miss the real answer in the second half of his post. The fact that “geezer” has other meanings relevant to the subject of whiskey, drugs, and cats is nice to know, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the question in the OP. Declan wanted to know about the meaning of “man.” The answer is that, basically, “geezer” just means a man, although some people take it to mean particularly an old man and some take it to mean particularly a man associated with criminal enterprises. True to the spirit of Krokodil, you are presumably referring to those Dopers a) with an attention span of less than 30 seconds or b) have not yet learned to read properly. But again, I think you are right. I can’t ever recall a post in these forums some of which was slightly off topic. If you are truly concerned about this, and in the interests of harmonious Doper relations, please email me with your address and I will send you some flowers. Please state choice of bloom. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685/20 "2006-07-24T12:54:05Z")
So you believe that wasting bandwidth is more important than clarity? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-whats-a-geezer/365685.md?page=2)