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Wanker is a pejorative term of British origin, also common in Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
Meaning
Differences in meaning There is a distinct difference of usage in Australia and Britain. In Britain the term is a generic insult, such as "prick" or "arsehole", whereas in Australia it almost exclusively means someone who loves himself, shows off too much, or is pretentious or ostentatious. It is rarely used in Australia as a generic insult; for instance, someone who drives a beat-up car who almost crashes into another car would not be called a wanker, while someone who drives a sports car would be. Variations Various jocular rhyming slang terms exist for wanker and wank, including merchant banker, Jimmy Floyd (Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink), Sherman (short for Sherman Tank), J. Arthur (J. Arthur Rank), "Carsten Jancker", Jodrell (Jodrell Bank),"Barclays" ("Bank" - see Kenneth Williams' diaries) and Tommy Tank. Also, the term 'wunch' is often humorously given as the collective noun for bankers. Usage and social acceptability As with the word "jerk", the effect of the word often depends on the situation. In a potentially aggressive situation, such as a football game, for instance, using it might entail serious consequences. In the episode "Phil the Shill" of the TV series Miami Vice broadcasted in 1985, a British character played by Phil Collins says, "You must take me for a right wanker, son..." – using the term in a context where 'idiot' would normally be used. His character erroneously (or perhaps disingenuously) explains the term as being "a twit, a tube, a tool...". This was the first time the term wanker was used in its proper context on American television. In the ribald American sitcom Married... with Children, the character Peggy's maiden name is Wanker; Al Bundy's in-laws are therefore the Wankers. An episode of Mork & Mindy also included a character called Arnold Wanker, though this aired before the understanding of the term was common throughout the U.S. and was less likely to be intentional, as the Married... with Children usage was. Chandler also referred to someone as a "wank" in an episode of Friends. In an episode of The Simpsons featuring the Irish band U2, one of them used the term twice, suggesting that American audiences would not be offended; when the programme was shown in the UK (pre-watershed in its usual slot) these moments were cut. As most Americans are familiar with the term nowadays, such "incidental" uses as the Mork & Mindy example have declined. However, there remains an American brand of bottled beer named Wanker. In the UK, it is generally unacceptable to use it in front of minors, and would most likely incur some form of discipline for those who were to say it during daytime television in the United Kingdom. That said, an infamous out-take from the word game ''Countdown'' records a moment when both contestants offered the word wankers as their answer, much to the embarrassment of the host of the show, the late Richard Whiteley. It is generally allowed to be used on television only after the watershed. In addition, it is common, particularly in England, that people chant a small verse, aimed at another person, most often a male. The song is rather simple, and its origins linked to a popular football chant. The song goes: (Name) is the captain of our ship, oh (name) is the captain of our ship. The ship is a tanker, (name) is a wanker, (name) has a very large/small dick. A common use is in the phrase "The Referee's a Wanker", or "Who's the wanker in the black?", commonly chanted by football supporters to express disapproval towards a referee, almost invariably following a decision unfavourable to their team. Humorous uses are common; a notable example being the song I'm a wanker in the cult TV comedy Men Behaving Badly, or the line "I'm not a wanker or a banker" in Devo's Triumph of the Will. There is an obvious separation between the insult and the reality of the act. A related but less common slang term is wankered to mean "extremely drunk". This usage is almost exclusively found in the UK, primarily in youth culture. Also a product of youth culture, any activity or thing that is regarded as uninteresting or shabby can be described as wank, a pile of wank, a bag of wank or "a bunch of wank". When the term wanker is not sufficiently abusive for the user, the variant wankhard may be used - this is a portmanteau and implies a greater degree of strength in the use of the epithet. Australian crowds at cricket matches will often join in the chant, "You are a wanker!" to mock umpires and opposition players (particularly following a dropped catch or fumble). Wanker in popular culture Other uses According to the 1990 Census, "Wanker" is the 53,492nd most common surname in the United States. * In New Orleans, the term "wanker" is used as an abbreviation of West Banker, referring to someone who lives on the West Bank of the Mississippi in the New Orleans metro area. The term is used derogatorily by those who live on the East Bank of the river (particularly Uptown New Orleans), but it does not carry the same meaning as that of the British usage. In automobile racing the term wanker is often assigned to a driver who always occupies the rear of the field of vehicles. It's also often applied to a driver who acts and looks like one with more talent and ability than they actually possess, most likely inspired by the common British use of the term. The term wanker is probably more likely applied to a racing driver in English-speaking countries other than the United States. In the US the use of the term is mainly found in the sports car and open-wheel road racing community. See also Reference Karen Stollznow, 2004, Whinger! Wowser! Wanker! Aussie English: Deprecatory language and the Australian ethos. In Christo Moskovsky (ed), Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. Online pdf version | ||||||||||
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