|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1
stranger
|
OP
stranger
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1 |
Hi -
A number of my regular news sources have used
the word 'wonk' recently, mostly in reference to Al Gore.
The context suggests this is a mildly disparaging comment
on a generally bookish approach towards issues. Where
did this word come from? In high school I was, by
default, a collector of similar epithets and never
was called, er. I mean, ran across this one.
N
N
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
TEd
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
a wonk is a person who works or studies too much; usually heard in the phrase "policy wonk" ( a wonk is a close relative of the nerd).
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 444 |
According to my father's memory of his childhood (admitteldy a not altogether reliable oral history, but in this instance I at least am not making up stories!) a wonk is a small furry toy closely related to the more common gonk.
ON a separate note, in British English at least, 'wonky' means 'not straight' or 'not the way it should be'.
I am finding it hard to relate either of these pieces of lore to tsuwm's definition.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Warm welcome to you, Kmeson, as a fellow devotee to peculiar words.
tsuwm says, a wonk is a person who works or studies too much; I am wondering if "twonk" - a derogatory epithet that I have heard once or twice in UK - has any relationship to this word?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724 |
... And what does bonk mean?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
In comic strips BONK is the sound of somebody getting hit in the head.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
It is also, in the UK at least, I don't know about other parts of the world, a slang term for having sex.
Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
The British English adjective "wonky" means unstable or wobbly. Probably no connection. The Australian noun "wanker" means one who masturbates, from the verb "to wank." Probably no connection. An older British usage of "wonk" referred to a recruit seaman who was unreliable in that he had not yet acquired knowledge or skill. Probably no connection, save that both usages are derisive. The earliest American usage probably meant bookish or studious. OED says its been around since 1962. Webster claims a use in 1954. The term evolved to mean someone with remarkable expertise in a very narrow field. Erich Segal used it in "Love Story" in 1970, to wit: "Who could Jenny be talking to that was worth appropriating moments set aside for a date with me? Some musical wonk?". I think it has lost nuance and come to mean "nerd."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
"twonk" - a derogatory epithet that I have heard once or twice in UK
Interesting; I'd thought twonk a fairly local, little-used epithet, RC. Definitely a favourite of mine, often self-attributed in moments of frustration!
Used pretty much as "git" (the UK noun rather than the US verb), with roughly the same degree of offensiveness. Maybe there's a dash of "twit" in there too.
Seems to me that, like wonk, twonk can be applied to people with pretensions who try to make a big impression and fail abysmally - probably because they are trying too hard.
Derogatory terms, of course, are notorious for escaping their original definitions!
I think the value of favourite derogatory terms is in their sound rather than meaning as such. The flip side of "phonaesthetics" perhaps?
(anyone interested see the "antonym for onomatopoeia" thread for Bingley's reference to phonaesthetics)
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,318
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
414
guests, and
0
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
