Bugger

For the alien species in Ender's Game, see Formics.

Bugger is a vulgar word used in vernacular British English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English, and occasionally also in Malaysian English. When used in context it still retains its original meaning, implying sodomy (see buggery).

History

Etymologically, a "Bugger" was a "Bulgre" (French Bougre). Originally, it was derived from the French word "Bougge­rie" ("of Bulgaria"), meaning the medieval Bulgarian clerical sect of the Bogomils, which facing severe persecution in Bulgaria spread into Western Europe and was branded by the established church as particularly devoted to the practice of sodomy.

Today, the term is a general-purpose expletive, used to imply dissatisfaction (bugger, I've missed the bus [i.e. Darn it, I've missed the bus!], or used to describe someone whose behaviour is in some way displeasing (the bugger's given me the wrong change).

The word is also used amongst friends in an affectionate way (you old bugger) and is used as a noun in Welsh English vernacular to imply that one is very fond of something (I'm a bugger for Welsh cakes). It can also imply a negative tendency (He's a silly bugger for losing his keys) [i.e He's a fool for losing his keys often].

A colloquial phrase in the north of England (and often in New Zealand and Australia as well) to denote or faint surprise at an unexpected (or possibly unwanted) occurrence is "Bugger me, here's my bus".

In colloquial use in New Zealand and Australia it can indicate the state of being tired, such as "I'm buggered."

Usage

The word 'buggery' serves a similar purpose as a mild expletive and can be used to replace the word 'bugger' as a simple expletive or as a simile as in the phrase It hurts like buggery or in apparently meaningless phrases such as Run like buggery. The past tense is also used as a synonym for 'broken', as in "Damn, this PC's buggered" or "Oh no! I've buggered it up". Also a term used by the British to denote sodomy or a sodomite, as in "he likes to bugger little boys."

The phrase bugger off (bug off in American English) means to run away [Let's bugger off out of here]; when used as a command it means "go away" ["piss off", "get lost" or "leave me alone"], which is generally considered one of the more offensive usage contexts. Bugger all means "Nothing" [I got bugger all for it]. The Bugger Factor is another phrase to describe the phenomenon of Sod's Law or Murphy's Law. In the UK, the phrase Bugger me sideways (or a variation thereupon) is sometimes used as an expression of surprise.

It is famously alleged that the last words of King George V were "bugger Bognor", in response to a suggestion that he might recover from his illness and visit Bognor Regis. Variations on the phrase bugger it are commonly used to imply frustration, admission of defeat or the sense that something is not worth doing, as in bugger this for a lark or bugger this for a game of tin soldiers.

As with most other expletives its continued use has reduced its shock value and offensiveness, to the extent the Toyota car company in Australia and New Zealand ran a popular series of advertisements where "Bugger!" was the only spoken word. The term is generally not used in the United States, but it is recognised, although inoffensive there. It is also used in Canada more frequently than in the United States but with less stigma than in other parts of the world. In the pre-watershed Television version of Four Weddings and a Funeral the opening sequence is modified from repeated exclamations of "Fuck!" by Hugh Grant and Charlotte Coleman when they are late for the first wedding to repeated exclamations of "Bugger!".

There are yet other English speaking communities where the word has been in use traditionally without any profane connotations whatsoever; for instance, within the Anglo-Indian community in India the word "bugger" has been in use, in an affectionate manner, to address or refer to a close friend or fellow schoolmate.

"Bagarap" (from "buggered up") is a common word in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea, meaning "broken," "hurt" or "tired", as in "kanu i bagarap", "the canoe is broken" or "kaikai i bagarap", "the food is spoiled." "mi bagarap pinis" ("me buggered up finish") means, "I am very tired," or "I am very ill." The 'a' is pronounced long, like the a in 'father'. [1]

The following is an actual photograph of a sign in an elevator in the PNG government telecommunications building in Lai. The translation is, "Dial this (fellow) number suppose something bugger up or it not work"

For some reason which I do not understand, the above-mentioned photograph which I took with my own camera some years ago has been deleted from this web page. However the text of the notice is "DIALIM DISPELA NAMA SOPOS SAMTING BAGARUP OR INO WOK 42 3333".

Buggers' charter

In 1978 Judge Aubrey Melford Steed Stevenson famously called the British Sexual Offences Act 1967 a "buggers' charter".

See also

• Buggery
• Buggery Act 1533