Should I be offended?

[jessicacook]

background info: I sent an email Christmas card (same one I posted here) to a friend who is going to school in England. She sent an email back calling Jakob a "little duffer." Now when I googled that, I got this:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_boar ... /1489.html

Surely I just got the wrong definition...or she doesn't actually know what it means? Has anyone ever heard of this term??

[Sherry]

It can be used as insulting or affectionate which I am sure your friend was meaning the later usage.

[Tim Elston]

It can be used as insulting or affectionate which I am sure your friend was meaning the later usage.

It's pretty amazing that none of the online dictionaries at this link give the affectionate meaning, but I did find a few occurrences of "cute little duffer" to describe babies through Google. Apparently it's commonwealth slang that's an appropriate term of affection for babies. It might mirror something like the confusion I had with "Isn't she a mess!" when I first moved to Tennessee back in 1980.

In any case, your and Tim's boy is a cute little angel! A nice shot of you and Tim, too! Tell Tim he got himself a good-looking catch!

[Sherry]

I asked a friend of mine who has lived in England her whole life, this is her reply:

As for your friend - this is an odd one. Duffer is usually a derogatory term but seems to be being used more and more as a colloquialism as an affectionate term for the child (imagine it being accompanied by a friendly tousle of small child's hair!)....if I were your friend I wouldn't be upset.

That is what I meant when I replied to Jessica's question.

[jessicacook]

I knew what you meant, YR! Thanks for the replies. I knew it had to be some misunderstanding.

[RamboPreacher]

a similar expression "bad". it can mean bad or good, depending on context. or in pirate speak - blargh can mean yes, no or maybe.

[Tim Elston]

a similar expression "bad". it can mean bad or good, depending on context. or in pirate speak - blargh can mean yes, no or maybe.

Here is a fun list of such words: Autoantonyms, words that have two opposite meanings (also called contranyms, contronyms, antilogies, Janus words, and enantiodromes)

Apparently (there's an autoantonym!), 'duffer' may soon be added to the list. I took lingustics for my B.A., and language change was a fascinating subject. Jessica, you are the victim of the first wave of a probable historic semantic shift for the word 'duffer.' Imagine. You are making history!

[bibleguy]

I called someone who was pestering me a "bugger."

My dad asked me if I knew what that meant. I said that it meant he was bugging me. He recommended I look it up.

Needless to say, I have not used that term to describe people since. It was a good lesson in ignorance.

Sometimes people use terms without full knowledge of their meaning. I don't know if this is the case in your situation, but I know, for my part, I try to be more careful.

[bibleguy]

a similar expression "bad". it can mean bad or good, depending on context. or in pirate speak - blargh can mean yes, no or maybe.

Here is a fun list of such words: Autoantonyms, words that have two opposite meanings (also called contranyms, contronyms, antilogies, Janus words, and enantiodromes)

Apparently (there's an autoantonym!), 'duffer' may soon be added to the list. I took lingustics for my B.A., and language change was a fascinating subject. Jessica, you are the victim of the first wave of a probable historic semantic shift for the word 'duffer.' Imagine. You are making history!

Thanks for the link.

I've always been intrigued by the shared meanings of FLAMMABLE and INFLAMMABLE.

[Mole_J]

a similar expression "bad". it can mean bad or good, depending on context. or in pirate speak - blargh can mean yes, no or maybe.

Here is a fun list of such words: Autoantonyms, words that have two opposite meanings (also called contranyms, contronyms, antilogies, Janus words, and enantiodromes)

Apparently (there's an autoantonym!), 'duffer' may soon be added to the list. I took lingustics for my B.A., and language change was a fascinating subject. Jessica, you are the victim of the first wave of a probable historic semantic shift for the word 'duffer.' Imagine. You are making history!

Thanks for the link.

I've always been intrigued by the shared meanings of FLAMMABLE and INFLAMMABLE.

In Latin, "in" can have two meanings. It can be a preposition like in, of, or about. So in inflammable, "in" means in the flame. "In" second meaning is a negative meaning, this is the one most are familiar with.

I got this from Hotforwords.com a few months ago. If you want to watch her video you can here: http://www.hotforwords.com/2007/10/05/i ... flammable/

[Full Quiver]

I called someone who was pestering me a "bugger."

[nobodyyouknow]

What about famous and infamous? Those words confuse me.