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prettygoodwordtosser (TAWS-er) - n., (UK, Ire., Aus., NZ) an obnoxious and contemptable person, a jerk, a wanker.
(Okay, should have run this yesterday, after knobhead -- ah well.) I could have stopped with just that first sense, but those last two are connected in origin: they all started as terms for a masturbator. Interestingly, the older one goes, the more unisex the insult gets -- they all started as male-specific terms. Tosser dates to the 1970s, from the slang toss off meaning to masturbate.
That's far from the last drop from the well of colorful British insults, but that's the end of this theme week. Back next week with one leftover before resuming the usual assorted mix.
---L.
(Okay, should have run this yesterday, after knobhead -- ah well.) I could have stopped with just that first sense, but those last two are connected in origin: they all started as terms for a masturbator. Interestingly, the older one goes, the more unisex the insult gets -- they all started as male-specific terms. Tosser dates to the 1970s, from the slang toss off meaning to masturbate.
That's far from the last drop from the well of colorful British insults, but that's the end of this theme week. Back next week with one leftover before resuming the usual assorted mix.
---L.
