British English 101

Right you Americans, time for some education.

I am not going to go into the whole discrimination against the ‘u’ thing (humour, colour, favour etc) because try as I might, you Americans insist on treating the ‘u’ like a spurned lover. Tossing it aside, regarding it as superfluous.

Today’s lesson centers around the word ‘naff’.

Naff is a great word to use, I use it often. This is what it means:

Naff is wearing socks with your sandals.

Naff is your mom telling you to take a sweater with you when it’s cold outside, and you listening to her. And you are a man.

Naff is wearing lots of pink frilly things. If you were a man this would not be naff but rather queer / gay.

Naff is grown men still living with their mother.

Prince Charles is naff.

Naff is a guy who doesn’t like getting hands dirty to do chores.

And to be honest, I find new age sensitive men of the nineties naff. But that’s just me. Can’t stand all this naff getting in touch with your feminine side shit.

Naff is basically a mixture between nerdy and wanky.

You can be a naff or something can be naff.

I.e.: “Don’t be such a naff, jump in, it’s not that cold”, or “These childbirth classes are so naff with all this sharing and visualization shit”

Naff is never cool.

Comments

[Bee]

OMG - are you implying that your NBF, Scott, who has virtually admitted to being able to sew a dart in a bodice, is NAFF? NOOOOO. We love Scott, sorry Scott, you are SO NOT naff!

[alix]

Can a woman be naff or is it a man thing? Seems like a cross between being a dork and being a pussy? Is that the right way to think of it. I love the word and want to use it properly.

Alix in NYC

[Stacey]

We Canadians spell properly, just as you do Tertia. Yanks just don't know any better. ;)

[buttercup]

OK, naff I've got. But now I need to know what "wanky" is!

"The more I learn, the more I learn how much I have to learn."

~Charlie Brown (an arguably "naff," but loveable Yank ;))

[Menita]

But is Camilla naff?

[Ellen]

...but what is the definition of "wanky"?

I've been watching "The Office" so I feel a little more Brit Slang Oriented, but I still don't get the Beckham family obsession.

[Ellen]

I see that Buttercup above is as "wanky" confused as I am.

[sara]

Sweet. Just tell me how to pronounce it, and I shall propagate its use all over the Continental United States. Just as I am trying to do with the spurned u.

naff, rhymes with "staff"?

Cheers-

Sara

[Tertia]

Hmmm, further education is required I see, look out for British English 101 Class 2

[KathyH]

So someone can be naff and something can be naff? Is that like someone being a dork and something being dork'y'? Can naff take on a Y? Naffy? Can it be used as a noun? A naff? How about an adverb? Naffly? Hmm.

Metrosexuals are naff? Or maybe I don't quite understand the meaning of naff. Or metrosexual.

Sign me up for BE 101 #2.

[KathyH]

Ok I didn't pay enough attention in class. Someone can be *a* naff.

"Don't be such a naff, jump in, those Great White Sharks won't hurt you."

[Laura]

Thank you for the clarification. Naff.
"You such a naff". "That outfit is so naff."
Like it. i can think of loads of stuff to use it with.

[Moxie]

Not adding in an extra "u" in words that don't require one provides maximum efficiency while typing. :)

Ellen, I couldn't even make it through one episode of "The Office"--I needed subtitles.

Is "wanky" similar to "wanker"?

[kath]

And what fucking hick-ass country choses NOT to adopt the fucking metric system. So much easier.

Naff means Naff in Australia too.

[Anne]

Isn't it possible to work out the meanings of naff, wanky, bludger etc from the context? The first time I ever heard the word naff was on an episode of The Bill where George described someone's shoes as "sort of naff"...maybe it was in the tone, but I got it.

[Suzie-Q.]

Okay, my understand of "wanky" derives from using "wanker" as in, "he's such a wanker"... meaning "he's such an asshole". (or jackass, or dipshit, etc.)(Not Tertia's meaning... the regular meaning of asshole.)
That comes from my Australian friends.
Is being naff (naffy? *a* naff?) closer to being a dork, or, being a pussy?

[Suzie-Q.]

Bee~
What is "NBF"? New Boy Friend?????
;)

[elsa]

NAFF came from british 'gayspeak' a private language between gay men. It actually means Not Available For F***ing!! (ie 'he's straight') Obviously now means 'socks and sandals' etc. Which, come to think of it also means straight!!

[Eric Albert]

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "naff" as "Unfashionable, vulgar; lacking in style, inept; worthless, faulty." (Garden gnomes, indeed.) Kinda like what you say, but different, and closer to how I see it used in British books and magazines.

-- Eric

[meg]

naff is reputed to be an abbreviation of 'nasty and frightful' (not sure where the extra f comes from) - and you can also tell someone to 'naff off' or 'naff orf' if you're of a posh disposition. you can also tell your kids of (or orf) for naffing about. haircuts can be naff - mine frequently are - as can any item of clothing that's just a bit sad. i've never used naff as a noun - and i'm british and very abusive!

[kim]

I have British English envy. You have the best words and expressions.

[anon Australian]

wanky comes from wanker, but not in the sense of being an arsehole. It is in the (mainly Australian) sense of showing off or being up yourself too much. Something that is wanky is too pretentious.

[Meli]

Hi!!!!!I´m from Ushuaia!!!In Argentina...Do u know where is it??Well..after reading and reading i finally figured out I´m a NAFF!!!!!!!!

[Ryan Ferneau]

so it is a synonym of "sissy" I guess?

also, the letter U needs to die

[Alex]

So is naff similar to what "naco" means in mexican slang? I think I sort of get the meaning, never'd heard of it though, but it shall be an useful addition to my vocabulary...