GIT

[Dr. Goodword]

• git •

Pronunciation: git • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: (British slang) A worthless or stupid person, an idiot, dumbbell, moron, half-wit, imbecile, lamebrain, lunkhead, simpleton, or fool.

Notes:With such an armory of personal insults as the synonyms of today's Good Word listed in its meaning above, we might well wonder why we need yet another. But it is here already, so we have to deal with it. Git is a purely English creation but remains a lexical orphan with no related words to support it in its sad job of insulting those whom it labels.

In Play: Just remember that this word is basically a mild insult that could still hurt the feelings of someone present: "What kind of git would sit there and calmly eat his peas, one by one, with his steak knife?" Git is a flexible enough insult, though, that may be used humorously or even sympathetically: "The poor old git had his pants on backwards when he left the house."

Word History: Today's Good Word originated as a mispronunciation of the noun get, referring to something that has been gotten. Just as the result of rejection is a reject and the result of rewriting something is a rewrite, the results of getting is a get, though this usage is rare in the US. In some areas of northern England and Scotland, get came to refer to the results of begetting, the progeny of animals. Puppies, piglets, kittens, foals, then are all gets of their parents or owners. When this meaning spread to humans, it of course took on a pejorative meaning of "brat", especially the brat of an unwed mother. This sense then captured the imagination of English speakers throughout the UK, who adopted it with its dialectal pronunciation git for half-wit rotters. (I wouldn't want to be the git who forgets to thank Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira, one of the Good Word editors, for suggesting this odd little Good Word.)

[LukeJavan8]

I have a neighbor who fits this category. Blew part of his
house up with the recent fireworks display.

[misterdoe]

I had to ask a British friend from a Yahoo group about this one a few years ago. I saw it in an article about Terry Gilliam -- after an interviewer mentioned Gilliam's old Monty Python mate Terry Jones comparing comedy to poetry, Gilliam called Jones "a pretentious Welsh git." Gilliam then made a couple of comparisons of his own before concluding, "I guess I have to agree with the pretentious Welsh git." (Not being a big Monty Python fan, I had no idea before that interview that Gilliam was American.)

[LukeJavan8]

Seems to fit for me. I am not a Python fan either. My
concept of humor and his do not mesh in any theater.

[Stargzer]

I think an "old git" is similar to an "old codger" or an "old fart."

Speaking of wine:

Be Bold! Go for the Old! Old Git and Old Tart

Sold in the US as Old Fart and Old Fart's Wife.

Not bad wines; bought them for the labels originally. And no, I did not pose for the label; I don't own a gold vest or a black bowtie.

[LukeJavan8]

Heh,heh.