# Definition of "Wazzick"? "Wozzuk"? (idk spelling) British term **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718 "2016-03-21T00:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/21 "2016-03-23T06:00:31Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I would like to incorporate a fun word like “plonker” into my everyday language. What are its exact connotations? The verb “plonk” is attested from the later 19th century, meaning to hit or strike with a heavy thud, or to drop something with a thud. It’s probably onomatopoeic in origin. From this we get “plonker”, something large or substantial, especially a large or substantial example of it’s kind. (“That turnip’s a plonker!”). During the Great War, “plonker” is military slang for an artillery shell, and the verb “to plonk” means “to shell”. In the 1920s “plonker” appears as slang for a penis. Whether this is from plonk, to hit or strike, or from plonker, a shell, referring to the shape of the penis, is anyone’s guess. It’s less likely to be from plonker, something large or substantial, since from the outset it seems to be a derogatory slang term for penis. (“All you’re good for is pulling your plonker!”) It’s not until the 1980s that it turns up in what is now the predominant sense; someone who is stupid, contemptible or inept. Presumably it acquires this sense in the same way that “dick”, “prick” and “tool” acquired it. Unlike dicks, pricks and tools, however, I think plonkers can be female. ---
**Author:** ![lilihob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@lilihob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilihob)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/22 "2016-03-23T08:24:05Z")
A clip that simply defines plonker. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HwDBZuHw7l8/hqdefault.jpg "Rodney The Plonker") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwDBZuHw7l8) As to wazzock, I’ve always understood it to be a plonker who thinks that they’re great. Plonkers generally admit their plonkitude when confronted with it. " why did you do that? You plonker!" Embarrassed shrug. Plonker. " why did you do that? You plonker!" No, I was right because…stupid reasons. Wazzock. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/23 "2016-03-23T12:02:55Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > It’s not until the 1980s that it turns up in what is now the predominant sense; someone who is stupid, contemptible or inept. Presumably it acquires this sense in the same way that “dick”, “prick” and “tool” acquired it. As in the long-running comedy Only Fools and Horses, in which older brother Del Boy (a street trader in hooky goods who fancies himself as a Thatcherite entrepreneur, with farcical results) is constantly calling his less streetwise younger brother Rodney a plonker. When he’s not calling him a dipstick. [www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l18rJBtjrQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l18rJBtjrQ) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/24 "2016-03-23T12:09:19Z")
I am only familiar with the term “wazzock” from the Emmerdale soap. IIRC one of the Dingles was forever being referred to as a “great big wazzock” by his father. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/25 "2016-03-23T19:00:48Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I would like to incorporate a fun word like “plonker” into my everyday language. What are its exact connotations? A plonker is someone who is dull-witted, inept and or naive, though not necessarily unlikeable. Because of “Only Fools and Horses”, which has/had a popularity in England that few other TV shows could get close to, the archetypal plonker would be the Rodney character. Though Rodney was not by any means always dull-witted, inept or naive, but whenever he was his brother Del Boy, who certainly had his own foibles, would be sure to call him a plonker. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/26 "2016-03-23T19:12:51Z")
Wozzeck is a character in an opera of the same name. He’s a hapless character whose wife cuckolds him with Wozzeck’s superior officer in the army. He can’t get his life together and becomes a laughing stock in his village for his ineptness. It may be that the MP was using his name as a reference to an inept character, e.g. Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/27 "2016-03-23T19:45:23Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Is it a milder form of “wanker”? The word wanker is only used these days in UK to denote someone who masturbates. The dictionary meaning of an unpleasant person has long gone. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/28 "2016-03-23T20:01:56Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > The word wanker is only used these days in UK to denote someone who masturbates. The dictionary meaning of an unpleasant person has long gone. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/29 "2016-03-23T20:31:03Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > The word wanker is only used these days in UK to denote someone who masturbates. The dictionary meaning of an unpleasant person has long gone. If anything the opposite is true. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/30 "2016-03-23T21:44:08Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Cite? > [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > If anything the opposite is true. Just ask an Englishman. Seriously, if used in everyday speech, it is considered offensive as it refers to nothing but the act of pleasuring oneself. Not a word to use in polite company. Hopefully a countryman will come along to confirm. > **[Wanker](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanker)** > > Wanker is slang for "one who wanks (masturbates)", but is most often used as a general insult. It is a pejorative term of English origin common in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world (mainly Commonwealth of nations), including Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is synonymous with the insult tosser. > The terms wank and wanker originated in British slang during the late 19th and early 20th century. In modern usage, it is usually a general term of contempt rather than a comm... ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/31 "2016-03-23T22:07:26Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > Just ask an Englishman. > > Seriously, if used in everyday speech, it is considered offensive as it refers to nothing but the act of pleasuring oneself. Not a word to use in polite company. > > Hopefully a countryman will come along to confirm. > > [Wanker - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanker) As a Brit I totally refute this. It would be offensive in polite company but it is still used as a general insult, and not just to mean someone who masturbates. “Wanker” is widely used for a foolish or unpleasant person. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/32 "2016-03-24T02:05:51Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > As a Brit I totally refute this. It would be offensive in polite company but it is still used as a general insult, and not just to mean someone who masturbates. “Wanker” is widely used for a foolish or unpleasant person. Not a Brit, but I’ve spent time there. I concur with MarcusF. “Wanker” wouldn’t be used in polite company for the same reason as “fucker” wouldn’t be. But, just like “fucker” doesn’t refer exclusively or even predominantly to one who has sex, so “wanker” doesn’t necessarily, or usually, refer to one who masturbates. They are both employed as general terms of abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/33 "2016-03-24T08:27:52Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > The word wanker is only used these days in UK to denote someone who masturbates. The dictionary meaning of an unpleasant person has long gone. I can assure you the “someone who is a bit of/a complete tool” meaning is alive and well in the antipodes. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/34 "2016-03-24T09:02:53Z")
The wiki cite above mentions exactly that. The Aussies and americans have a different use of the word from the Brits. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/35 "2016-03-24T09:15:43Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > The wiki cite above mentions exactly that. The Aussies and americans have a different use of the word from the Brits. I don’t think so. I’ve spent time both in the UK and in Australia. My impression is that in Australia the word is less shocking and is more socially acceptable, and is more widely used. But in both places it’s predominantly used in the general abusive sense. The sense which refers to actual masturbation is definitely the secondary sense, in terms of frequency of use. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/36 "2016-03-24T12:54:35Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > As a Brit I totally refute this. It would be offensive in polite company but it is still used as a general insult, and not just to mean someone who masturbates. “Wanker” is widely used for a foolish or unpleasant person. - 1. See also ‘tosser’. Though ‘wanker’ would be roughly equivalent to ‘asshole’, ‘wazzock’ is a (far far milder) dumbass. To clarify, wazzock and wanker aren’t in the same league as far as insults go, it’s something that you might hear in kids playgrounds along the same lines as ‘twit’. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/37 "2016-03-24T13:41:06Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > Just ask an Englishman. > > Seriously, if used in everyday speech, it is considered offensive as it refers to nothing but the act of pleasuring oneself. Not a word to use in polite company. > > Hopefully a countryman will come along to confirm. > > [Wanker - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanker) I am an Englishman. My experience is that you are quite wrong on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/38 "2016-03-24T19:40:01Z")
But are you a real Englishman? ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/39 "2016-03-24T23:27:36Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > The wiki cite above mentions exactly that. The Aussies and americans have a different use of the word from the Brits. You are misreading your own cite. It is absolutely clear from the article that in Britain “wanker” is used as a general insult, not just for someone who masturbates. Just look at the last example quoted from as recently as January 2015: > [@](#): > > In January 2015 Mayor of London Boris Johnson described British-born jihadists as “pornography-obsessed inadequates who only turn to radical Islam when they fail to make it with girls…They are \*\*literally \*\*wankers” If the normal use of the word was not as a general insult there would be no point in the “literally” in this sentence. All the other examples from Britain and Ireland show the same meaning. There is a difference in how offensive it is between the UK and Australia - it is milder insult in the wild Antipodes 🙂 - but the meaning is the same. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definition-of-wazzick-wozzuk-idk-spelling-british-term/749718/40 "2016-03-25T02:53:37Z")
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