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Inside The WordhuntPut Downs and InsultsThere’s nothing quite like the English language for a good insult. Short, sharp and immensely satisfying, these words might seem pretty straightforward – but they've proved tricky to track down. Wordhunters have come up trumps with two of the words in this category - but three still need more evidence. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external web sites. plonkerUPDATE: Still unsolved - can you help? WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1966. Like many good insults plonker sounds amusing, thanks to its relationship with the verb to plonk. Arguably the word enjoyed its heyday in the 80s as Del Boy’s favourite put down to Rodney. But the OED has an example of plonker as an insult from 1966 and an even earlier one where it means ‘a penis’. pratUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1968; information on the origins of the word Look up prat in the OED and you’re taken right back to 1000 AD. But the original sense of prat was as a trick or a prank. Later prat came to mean buttock or even hip pocket. So when and why did a prat become a fool or jerk? The earliest reference the OED currently have is from 1968, in a book by Melvyn Bragg. Do we really have Melvyn to thank for all the prats around us today? tosserUPDATE: Still unsolved - can you help? WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1977 We’re not interested in the large Scotsman holding a caber - literally one who tosses. Instead we’re after the term of contempt which John Prescott recently slung across the House of Commons, and which is first cited in the OED from 1977. The associated verb to toss off, in the sense of masturbation, dates from a century earlier, so surely we can find the OED some earlier tossers? wallyUPDATE: Still unsolved - can you help? WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1969; information on the origins of the word This mild term of abuse is said by some to derive from the name Walter. But who was Walter and just what did he do to incite such scorn? A wally is also said to be an unfashionable person. But was the term in vogue before 1969? Get wally back a long way and it’s the dictionary folks that will look like wallies. wazzockUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1984; information on the origins of the word Were you the first wazzock? The OED is convinced that the wazzock originated in the North of England before spreading further afield as a popular affectionate insult. Can you tell the OED anything new about the origins of the wazzock? |
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