I was surprised to note Cecil’s use of the word “wanker” in one of the early paragraphs. Far from being offended by such gratuitous use of the “w” word, I became curious as to when this word was first employed by Americans (assuming of course that Cecil is one). Last I knew nobody in the States understood what it meant, leading to much hilarity on programmes such as V Graham Norton (C4 at 10:00 daily).
So does America “get” what a wanker is, when to call someone a wanker, and how to add more weight to the insult through the addition of a special hand gesture?
Hazarding a guess, I’d say that if Americans weren’t aware of the word and its usage after British films and television since the 1960s, they’d certainly know now through the Internet.
The link to the US patent office didn’t work the last time it was tried here either. Why I expected it to work this time, I don’t know. Just wishful thinking, I guess.
I was going to link to this just so I can go HA HA YOU’RE WRONG YOU SILLY CEC. Knowing nothing of any use otherwise, this will be the only chance I get.
No no no. The correct term there would be ‘idiot’. ‘Wanker’ does not mean ‘fool’. It means ‘annoying sad bastard’. So there.
Incorrect, wanker does not mean ‘sad annoying bastard’ :smack:
A wanker is someone who ‘wanks’ - or masturbates.
So calling someone a ‘wanker’ is the same as calling them a ‘jerkoff’ - just, well, more british.
Although, it is easily deductable that to be a ‘wanker’, you are usually a ‘sad annoying bastard’ - and quite possiby a ‘fool’ also. Wanker is very versatile, in that respect.
And as for the hand gesture, kinda obvious, that one.
I’ve never called anyone a wanker because I thought they might have knocked a crafty one off the wrist recently, more because they’ve been acting like an arsehole, or a bit of a twat, or both.
Anyway, Americans do know what it means, which is all I asked.
The benefit of an American using “wanker” in print is that it isn’t as likely to offend anyone as a more American term would.
The weeklies in which the Dope normally appears probably don’t have a very prude readership, but you could also probably get away with “wanker” in more conservative press too. “Jerkoff” might get you a few letters in America.
What about this place, then? http://www.wankerscorner.com/
I’ve eaten there - does that make me a Wanker? Would you believe me if I told you I rarely masterbate? Does it matter?
There is a supposedly true story that goes around my office of a secretary interrupting a meeting by telling her boss, “There is a Dick Wanker on the phone.”
Because 0.99… is defined as ‘the limit of 0.9, 0.99, 0.999, …’ which is 1. If you want to define it another way or not at all, feel free, but be aware it’s like using ‘h’ instead of ‘2’ - it causes confusion. Don’t worry, it took me ages to get it too…
Oh, who am I kidding. Time to get this moved to cafe society and talk about naked blue chicks
I mentioned in another thread, Rebecca was on the Tonight Show, and she discussed a certain difficulty in passing gas, and having it form bubbles under the rubber outfit, and having to adjust them up and out. (Now I’m fuzzy on whether it was her or her stunt double.) There were some latex parts, including one up the rear and back.
Regarding wanker, we’re dealing with denotations versus connotations. The denotation (official definition) is a masturbator. The connotation (unofficial meaning that many people attach) is that a masturbator is a sad, pathetic loser. Thus calling someone a wanker is hinting that they’re a sad, pathetic loser.
