NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Wanker

Wanker is a pejorative term of British origin, common in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and British-influenced territories like South Africa, and gaining usage in Canada and the United States. It initially referred to "one who masturbates" but has since become a general insult. It is synonymous with tosser and toss-pot. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with pejoration. ... Synonyms (in ancient Greek, ÏƒÏ…Î½ (syn) = plus and ÏŒÎ½Î¿Î¼Î± (onoma) = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. ...

Wanker literally means" "one who wanks"(masturbates). It is normally intended as a general insult rather than as an accusation. It conveys contempt, not commentary on normal sexual habits. Wanker has similar meanings and overtones to American pejoratives like "jerk",^[1] "jerk-off", and "prick". One particular connotation is of someone self-obsessed or a show-off (usually male).^[2] Woman masturbating, 1913 drawing by Gustav Klimt. ...

The term "wanker" originated from British slang in the 1940s, based on the verb "wank".^[3] By the 1970s, the general meaning of wanker had shifted from its literal origin (as a masturbator) to that of a generic insult;^[4] for example, "a contemptible person". This shift in usage is comparable to that of "dick", "ass" or "jerk." A common use is in the chant "The referee's a Wanker", or "Who's the wanker in the black?", used by football supporters to express disapproval towards a referee. For other uses, see Slang (disambiguation). ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... A referee presides over a game of association football (soccer). ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ...

The word has developed a metaphorical usage, in which to wank or to be a wanker implies egotistical and self-indulgent behaviour. This is the dominant meaning in Australia.^[5] It can be used in this sense in other reasons but it is also used as a more general insult. This meaning is used in phrases like smug wanker, egotistical wanker or pretentious wanker.^[6] Wanker is sometimes used to refer to a person in the same way as snob for subjects perceived as pretentious; for instance, wine wanker, fashion wanker, car wanker.^[7] This meaning is shown in "Whatareya?", a song by TISM, which contrasts "yobs" (uncouth working class) to "wankers" (which according to the context means pretentious intellectuals). In the United States the current usage of the term is more in reference to the person being an idiot or moron, as opposed to the standard dick or jerk synonym in other countries. For the 1960s British Rock band, see The Snobs. ... Whatareya? is the name of the third single by TISM off their album www. ... TISM (an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) is a seven piece anonymous alternative rock band from Melbourne, Australia. ...

The wanker gesture

Wanker may be indicated by a one-handed gesture, usually to an audience out of hearing range.^[8] It is shown by curling the fingers of the hand into a loose fist and moving the hand back and forth to mime male masturbation. This is equivalent to saying, "[you are a] wanker". Some motorists show the wanking gesture in front of the rear-view mirror, where other motorists from behind can see the gesture. fingers_and_thumb_in_circle_downward_motion File links The following pages link to this file: Gesture Categories: GFDL images ... fingers_and_thumb_in_circle_downward_motion File links The following pages link to this file: Gesture Categories: GFDL images ...

Wanker is the centre of a popular story regarding the British television quiz show Countdown in which contestants have to form the longest word possible from nine randomly selected letters. On one occasion the letters permitted the spelling of 'wanker' (or 'wankers') and both contestants replied with the word, leading one to quip "we've got a pair of wankers." The sequence was edited out of the show (as is common with risqué words, although the spelling of "erection" was permitted) but has been shown as an outtake on other shows.^[9] Countdown is a British game show presented by Des OConnor and Carol Vorderman. ...

"The Winker's Song (Misprint)" by Ivor Biggun is one of many songs about masturbation. It humorously describes the singer's masturbation exploits: "I'm a wanker, I'm a wanker. And it does me good like it bloody well should." It reached number 22 in the UK charts despite being banned by BBC Radio 1.^[10] Doc Cox is a television personality best known for his appearances on the BBC TV programme Thats Life!. However he is also known as Ivor Biggun and fronts a humorous band known as Ivor Biggun and the Red-nosed Burglars, whose specialty is innuendo-laden smutty songs. ... The UK Singles Chart is currently compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. ... BBC Radio 1 (commonly referred to as just Radio 1) is a British national radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in popular music and speech and is aimed primarily at the 14-29[1] age group. ...

1 Wanker in other contexts
2 Usage
3 References
4 Further reading

Wanker in other contexts

Wanker is also a German surname; according to the 1990 census, "Wanker" is the 53,492nd most common surname in the United States.^[11] Several American TV shows have used this surname, either referring to or in ignorance of its other meaning. The sitcom Married... with Children featured a character whose maiden name was Wanker, who was from a fictitious Wanker county in Wisconsin. An episode of Mork & Mindy featured a character called Arnold Wanker and aired unedited on UK television. An inept stuntman in the Australian Paul Hogan Show was called Leo Wanker, a double entendre playing on a local impression of Leo (the Starsign) – egotistical and self-indulgent, with the equivalent in the Australian sense of a Wanker – self-indulgent and egotistical. A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ... The Twenty-first United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9. ... Marriedâ€¦ with Children was a long-running American sitcom about a dysfunctional family living in Chicago. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Paul Hogan Show (VHS) The Paul Hogan Show aired on Australian television from 1973 until 1984. ...

Wanker can also have other meanings, depending on context. Some American college students use it as a slang term for penis. This usage implies that the purpose of the penis is for masturbation.^[12] Few people use it as a word for "ass."^{[citation needed]} The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external male sexual organ. ...

Usage

In December 2000, research published by the Advertising Standards Authority into attitudes of the British public to pejoratives ranked wanker as the fourth most severe pejorative in English.^[13] The BBC describes it as 'moderately offensive' and 'almost certain' to generate complaints if used before the watershed.^[14] In Australia it is considered mildly offensive but is widely accepted and used in the media.^[15] Big Brother UK 2006 winner, Pete Bennett, who has Tourette syndrome uses the word "Wankers" in the majority of his verbal tics. ^[16] 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in December, 2000. ... The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent British self regulatory organisation (SRO) of the advertising industry. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Watershed is a term used in the United Kingdom (as well as Canada) to describe a time in television schedules beyond which it is permissible to show television programmes which have adult content. It is known in the US as Safe Harbor. Adult content can be generally defined as having... For the current series, see Big Brother 2007 (UK). ... Peter Alexander Bennett[1] (born March 22, 1982 in Camberwell, London to Mark Bennett and Anne Stephenson), better known as Pete, was the winner of Big Brother 7. ... â€œTouretteâ€ redirects here. ...

References

^ Etherington, Mike: The very Best of British The American's guide to speaking British
^ Ludowyk, Frederick: Anatomy of Swearing
^ Online Etymology Dictionary
^ Broader use of term esp. Aus
^ Broader use of term esp. Aus
^ http://au.geocities.com/austlingsoc/proceedings/als2003/stollznow.pdf
^ http://au.geocities.com/austlingsoc/proceedings/als2003/stollznow.pdf
^ Etherington, Mike: The very Best of British The American's guide to speaking British
^ snopes.com: Countdown
^ yearsofgold.org.uk
^ 1990 US Census
^ Cameron, Deborah 'Naming of Parts: Gender, Culture, and Terms for the Penis among American College Students' in American Speech Vol. 67, No. 4 p372
^ Delete expletives?. Advertising Standards Authority. Retrieved on January 6, 2007. (pdf)
^ BBC - Editorial guidelines, definition of offensive language (accessed 2007-01-20)
^ http://au.geocities.com/austlingsoc/proceedings/als2003/stollznow.pdf
^ http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/people/profiles/prof_oct_2006.htm

The Urban Legends Reference Pages (also known as snopes. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Contents

Wanker in other contexts GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Usage

References

Further reading

Wanker in other contexts