# Word for the day--Minger
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 22, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055 "2013-02-22T06:02:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Timetrvlr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timetrvlr)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/1 "2013-02-22T06:02:22Z")
**Minger**
A male or female who fell out of the ugly tree at birth and hit every branch on the way down
From [Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/) courtesy of an IMBD poster.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen a few of those.😃
---
### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/2 "2013-02-22T07:12:37Z")
Is this related somehow to the word minge, which I believe is slang for vagina/labia?
---
### Author:  [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/3 "2013-02-22T09:05:54Z")
I think it comes from ming, to stink.
---
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/4 "2013-02-22T12:18:52Z")
Yes, “minger” has a hard G, while “minge” has a soft G.
---
### Author:  [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/5 "2013-02-22T13:53:52Z")
And there is, of course, the evolution this that I heard a few times in Aberdeen- Ginger Minger (‘Ging’ to rhyme with ‘Ming’).
Mingin’.
---
### Author:  [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/6 "2013-02-22T15:13:39Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=146815&highlight=mingin'](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=146815&highlight=mingin%27)
---
### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/7 "2013-02-22T15:24:06Z")
I didn’t know this was a real word. I’d only heard it used in reference to [this guy.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingering_Mike)
---
### Author:  [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/8 "2013-02-22T15:25:21Z")
Welcome to 1990.
---
### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/9 "2013-02-22T16:38:43Z")
(singing)
_I’m mingin’ in the rain,
just mingin’ in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I’m happy again_
(/singing)
---
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/10 "2013-02-22T17:08:35Z")
My family, some friends and I saw a small, offbeat Australian comedy/acrobatic troupe perform in Pittsburgh awhile back, and they tossed the word “minger” about quite a bit. We’d never heard it before then. They also taught us the dismissive phrase and gesture, “Whatever, minger,” in which you use your right pointer, middle and ring fingers to make a “W” on your forehead, then turn it sidewise to make an “E,” and then upside-down to make an “M.”
There’s nothing quite like learning about a different culture…
---
### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/11 "2013-02-22T18:15:42Z")
I’d always understood “minging” to be complaining excessively, and “minger” to be one who complains.
---
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/12 "2013-02-22T18:31:30Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> I’d always understood “minging” to be complaining excessively, and “minger” to be one who complains.
I think that’s whinging: [What does whinge mean? whinge Definition. Meaning of whinge. OnlineSlangDictionary.com](http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/whinge)
---
### Author:  [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-the-day-minger/651055/13 "2013-02-22T19:05:38Z")
Prefer munter.