# How strong an insult is "daft?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2021, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401 "2021-01-13T04:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/21 "2021-01-13T22:20:29Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Is it in common use in the U.S.? I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it’s well known. It’s kind of old-fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2021, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/22 "2021-01-13T22:28:10Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > > [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > > > In actual use, I doubt I’ve ever heard of anyone calling someone else “daft”. > > God, I have, it’s quite standard in the UK. I feel like I have, but maybe just in British novels? At any rate, I agree with everyone else. It’s a mild insult that you might apply to yourself or someone you like, perhaps most often in the form “don’t be daft” (i.e., don’t do/say that silly thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/23 "2021-01-13T22:29:44Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I’d associate it particularly with Yorkshire …in fact, I just thought: _it’s the sort of word [Michael Parkinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Parkinson) would use_; and a moment’s googling shows that he actually wrote a book called _Football Daft_. (Yorkshireman Michael Parkinson is/was a writer/broadcaster/talk show host.) j ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/24 "2021-01-14T13:23:47Z")
Very common here in West Yorkshire to describe something as a ‘daft idea’ - like a three foot long cycle lane - or floor hazard sign that is placed right in a walkway where you can trip over it. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/25 "2021-01-14T15:29:29Z")
I grew up in Bedforshire/South Buckinghamshire and west London , daft was pretty commonly used. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/26 "2021-01-14T16:36:27Z")
My dear old Grandma was Scottish, and she’d tell me and my sisters “don’t be daft” if we were acting up. It was the mildest of perjoratives, equivalent of “stop being silly”. At least that’s how we took it… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/27 "2021-01-14T18:57:00Z")
I’ll be darned. All this time, I thought daft meant crazy, not merely foolish. I thought it was a slightly polite way of saying that someone has lost his marbles, gone 'round the bend, or had bats in his belfry. I guess I was being more charitable than I thought. I guess it’s too late to go back and tell those people I meant to say they were fing nuts. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/28 "2021-01-17T00:25:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it’s well known. It’s kind of old-fashioned. Well know as a term or as a name? I’d be surprised if many Americans were aware of any other context other than the name of a certain cartoon duck. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/29 "2021-01-17T10:48:34Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > All this time, I thought daft meant crazy, not merely foolish. I thought it was a slightly polite way of saying that someone has lost his marbles, gone 'round the bend, or had bats in his belfry. You might sometimes (in less sensitive times and contexts) hear someone referred to as a “dafty” as an alternative to “a bit simple”, but that’s much rarer than the mild usage we’re used to over here. I’ve never heard it as a synonym for madness, or anything as alarming as that. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/30 "2021-01-17T11:22:42Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > …in fact, I just thought: _it’s the sort of word [Michael Parkinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Parkinson) would use_ ; and a moment’s googling shows that he actually wrote a book called _Football Daft_ . This demonstrates the secondary meaning I was referring to; _Football Daft_ means Football crazy - as in he really, really, really likes football. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401/31 "2021-01-17T12:54:14Z")
And as in [Football crazy, football mad - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NSUuf1huWA) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-an-insult-is-daft/930401.md?page=1)