can any of you Brits tell me, what’s a git?
in “4 weddings and a funeral,” Hugh Grant’s late for lunch with his deaf brother, and the brother greets him by calling him a git, in sign language.
2 questions:
what is it?
where, on the socially inacceptable scale, does this fall? quaint euphemism? makes Aunt Fran blush? gets you thumped if you use it about someone in a pub?
I figured it meant a fool based on hearing “you silly git” hurled about by a Scot I knew.
The OED claims that it is a worthless person. Interestingly, the oldest cite for this usage is 1946. I had the idea it was quite a bit older.
I would guess that it would be most natural coming from a farmer or a machinist. Nothing to make Aunt Gertie blush, but not what you would generally say in front of the vicar.
I would rate it at about a “twit” level for societal purposes. It is more dismissive than pejorative.
Tom~
“Git - (n) stupid person.”
– Jann Turner-Lord; BOB’S YOUR UNCLE: A DICTIONARY OF BRITISH SLANG FOR MYSTERY FANS, Fithian Press, Santa Barbara, 1992.
I have GOT to start cleaning out these bookshelves.
Uke
Would the French usage be “le git”?
The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik
Doc, la git. Feminine noun!
Ike, what’s the deal with “Bob’s your uncle”? A Brit slang phrase? Help, “shagging” has about run it’s course!
Chief,
“Bob’s your uncle” is an exclamation meaning, roughly, “there you have it.”
“I needed to know how I could get a free pass to the electric chair execution. I reached for my copy of Cecil’s first book, and, Bob’s your uncle, I had my answer!”
Uke
What’s a “knees-up” ?
Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.
A ‘knees-up’ could be an entertaining party, or a lively night out at the pub (= drinking establishment). Dancing would usually be involved (that could be the derivation, because there is a jolly song from the traditional East End of London called ‘Knees-up Mother Brown’).
I think ‘git’ is ruder than ‘twit’, but ‘bastard’ is ruder than both. You could put stupid in front of all 3, but fckng only goes with ‘bastard’.
What would you understand by ‘Nice set of wheels, John’?
Good thing glee came through. There’s nothing in the book between “knackered” and “knickers.”
Now I’ll just stand back here, well out of the way, and let everyone have fly at the above comment.
Uke
Whut’s all this uhbayuout ‘git’ bein’ some sort uv Ainglish word? Shoot yall is jist plain nuts.Soon’s ah git me sumthin ta knock sum sense inta yore haids ah’ll be raht back.
“…”-Marx
Ukulele Ike…I think ‘knee-trembler’ comes between ‘knackered’ and ‘knickers’…
Usually it’s prefaced by the phrase
“Sniveling little rat faced”
or in the title of the song “Randy Scouse…” (Monkees)
I understood that “Bob’s your uncle” dated back to the time of Prime Minister Robert Peel, who was famous for finding government jobs for nephews, cousins and friends of friends. If someone of little ability landed a cushy job, the explanation was “Bob’s his uncle.” (Sort of like FOB under the current U.S. administration, although that seems to get you more into the Lincoln Bedroom.)
‘Scouse’ means someone from Liverpool.
Randy, on this side of the pond, means someone with a voracious sexual appetite. This caused some confusion when my charming, polite cousin came over from Canada and said to all my female relatives ‘Hi, I’m Randy’…
It means idiot, Randy Scouse Git is Horney Liverpudlian idiot. (Or Alternate Title 
Nice car?
My hubby always says (pertaining to bottom heavy women), “She’s got wide wheels.”
Speaking of English idioms, what does “snap!” mean after someone asks a question?
Several years ago when I reseached the meaning after first watching Red Dwarf I found that a git is the son of a prostitute, an illegitimate child.
I’ve heard people say “snap” here; I think it’s just a replacement word for “damn it, I should know the answer but I don’t.”
I have heard people saying “f—ing git,” but never “f—ing twit.”
My favourite cross-Atlantic misunderstanding: When I was at Leeds Uni, I knew a co-ed from South Carolina, where “to shag” means to dance. Her first night out at the bop, she innocently asked a bloke “Do you wanna shag?” His jaw hit the floor…