Okay, I usually pride myself in my knowledge of British slang, but this one seems to be either a recent thing, or something that my circle of friends never used to say. The latter actually makes sense, as I think the term is very nasty and would fit well into the “words I don’t like” thread.
Now, I do know what “a minger” is, but it sounds like it is derived from the verb “to ming” (compare: a singer, to sing), but I have never heard of such a verb. Is there such a verb? Or is the whole expression derived from “ginger minger”. It seems to me that it can be applied to people with any haircolour nowadays, but I suppose it could have taken on this wider meaning later on. Or is it, in fact, like “ginger” in that it sounds like it is derived from a verb but isn’t? But then you can’t call someone “a ginger”, can you? What up with this word? Also, is it really a recent one, or were all my English friends just nice enough to not use it?
Can’t really help on the origin of the word but I would say it is only the last couple of years that is has become a well known piece of slang.
I think it was mainly popularised when it was used by one of the UK Big Brother contestants (Jade if anyone wants to look her up but, be warned…).
I have heard the following forms of the word used:
He/She is a minger
He/She mings
This food mings
This food is minging
For those who don’t know what it means, it translates best as ‘fairly unpleasant’. Being a slang term I guess it’s usage is pretty interchangeable.
I think it is a fairly recent term, as far as widespread usage goes. Probably popularised by television picking it up. Certain shows grab hold of a phrase and suddenly everybody’s using it.
It was probably in use for longer in, say, a small area of the country or of society. Its use does involve to verb “to ming”, now at least. The word “minging” was around many years ago when I was at school.
One hypothesis therefore might be that as said schoolkids have moved on into adulthood and dating (and perhaps most significantly university), a term once reserved for school dinners has been reapplied with some success to the traditional points-ratings of the opposite sex.
Whole thing as a definite sense of annoying young people in bars being annoying and loud and overexcited and annoying. And rude and unkind, too.
Although to describe something as “minging” means it’s unpleasant, I believe referring to a person as a “minger” specifically means ugly. BTW - it’s pronounced with a hard “g” to rhyme with singer, not ginger.
“Minge”, pronounced with a soft “g” as in ginger minge, means something entirely different.
And yes, people do refer in a derogatory way to “a ginger”, but in this specific case the initial G is hard and the word is pronounced to rhyme with singer. Or, indeed, minger.
As in “Got the beer goggles on last night and woke up this morning next to a ginger” - that rhymes with singer, OK?
The OED suggests it etymology is Scottish, and records the word “meng” meaning excrement back in 1923.
As an adjective (mingin’) meaning stinking, unpleasant, or drunk. it also has Scottich origins, the OED recording this usage (in print) in 1970.
The OED has “minger” (an ugly person) as recorded in print 1995. I’m fairly sure I was using at the time I was at univerity (1988-1992)
Given that it will often take a few years of usage to make the OED, I guess it’s usage as a verb developed from “minger” and “mingin”.
Also there’s “mingy” (soft g) meaning “stingy”. Doesn’t appear to be related, and usage is recorded by the OED back in 1911. Certainly a word I remember from my childhood.
Another one chiming in to agree with the “Scottish origin” theory. I certainly remember “minging” from childhood, used mainly for something that smelled nasty. How funny - all ofo a sudden another word popped into my - “pong” meaning an unpleasant smell". (Not ,as far as I knwo, exclusive to any partifcular geographical area). The reason I say it seems funny is becaue I am sure I have not herd “pong” for a very long time. Amusing how words come and go.
Oops, I shoudl have claried that although “minging” meant “smelling nasty”, it was also used to express the idea of something being nasty in a general sort of way. As someone else mentioned school dinners, that would work as an example “this stuff’s minging” = not necessarily that it smelled horrible, but jsut that the speaker thought it was pretty horrible.
Minger has been around for ages. It’s basically a skanky person. It varies slightly depending on the area, I know in Aberdeenshire they say Minker, but they have almost their own language anyway…
“Singer” has a hard g? Maybe in Lancashire, but not anywhere else I’ve come across. Finger and linger have hard "g"s, but to me “singer” rhymes with “winger” and “ringer”.
I’m much more familiar with “pong” than minger. I was about as far removed from Scotland as you could possibly get whilst still being on the UK mainland, though, so maybe it’s the regional thing again.
I still come across “pong” quite a bit. It seems to be a kind of women’s mag/section in the newspaper kind of word. They always warn against the dreaded “pongy pits” and how to avoid them. Because of this context I associate it with being told what to do by some Susannah and Trinny type (hissssss) and don’t get along with the expression at all.
