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wonky

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:47 am
by scw1217
This is my new favorite word. But every time I use it, someone repeats it back to me, "Wonky?"

Dictionary.com
won·ky
–adjective, -ki·er, -ki·est.
1. British Slang . a. shaky, groggy, or unsteady. b. unreliable; not trustworthy.
2. Slang . stupid; boring; unattractive.

Origin:
1920–25; perh. var. of dial. wanky, equiv. to wank ( le ) (ME wankel, OE wancol; see wench) + -y1 ; def. 1 prob. represents a different word ( see wonk)

Related Words for : wonky
askew, awry, cockeyed, lopsided, skew-whiff
I particularly like the World English Dictionary's second definition (on that page) as it is more correct to my personal use of it: "not in correct alignment".

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:39 pm
by Slava
We Americans also took this, dropped the "y," and made a nerd out of it. As in "policy wonk."

Wonky Wonks

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 8:47 pm
by Slava
I thought I'd re-up this suggestion. It's a great word, and one with an interesting history. It's fascinating to think that a word the means shaky and askew could end up meaning, after losing a letter, a deeply and perhaps over-educated expert.
"overly studious person," 1954, Amer.Eng. student slang, popularized 1993 during Clinton administration in U.S.; perhaps a shortening of Brit. slang wonky "shaky, unreliable" (1919), which perhaps is from Ger. wankel- or from from surviving dialectal words based on O.E. wancol "shaky, tottering" (see wench). Or perhaps a variant of Brit. slang wanker "masturbator." It was earlier British naval slang for "midshipman" (1929).