Wanker

Spike calls Dalton a “wanker” in Surprise. The BBC wouldn’t allow the use of the word (and it was cut when shown in the UK), but it’s full meaning doesn’t seem to be widely known in the U.S., which is why Joss was able to get away with it there. The word originally meant someone who masturbates but it became common in British slang as a someone who is detestable.

   
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  • Suggested by: Jess
    Added: › 26th October 2004
    Updated: › 4th April, 2005
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    15 Comments about “Wanker”

    1. arkaná says:

      Hmmm… I thought nearly every word was allowed on UK television? I’ve heard worse words on English sitcoms. But I’m fairly sure I’m not allowed to repeat them here ;)

    2. AnyaRocks says:

      Most sitcoms in the UK that use bad words, are shown after the 9 o’clock watershed. If not then they just cut them out.

    3. AnyasFloppyEars says:

      I know Joss didn’t hire the guy who replaced Chrisophe Beck just to spite the BBC for cutting out “wanker” in this context, but I did do a sniggering double-take a number of the times during the credits (season 4 onwards), in which the musical score is credited to “Thomas Wanker”. The poor bastard.

      Interestingly, when Spike says “sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks - oh God, I’m English” in Tabula Rasa, the BBC didn’t cut that - and since it’s one of the funniest things in the world, I’m so glad they didn’t, but I don’t get how “wanker” is deemed more offensive than “shagging” or “sodding”. The only thing I can think of is that wanker is a term of (self) abuse, whereas the others are just sentence fillers used by Londoners, as in “pass the sodding salt, mush”.

      And whilst “wanker” does indeed mean “a detestable person”, it still carries the connotation of “a detestable person who is often to be found having a tug, probably in a public lavatory”, and it is frequently accompanied by the universal hand-gesture of Onanism (see also Buffy in Hush). Seldom are women called wankers, since of course female self-abuse is a beautiful thing all to do with empowerment and flowers and puppies. ;-)

      (And yes, post “Deadwood” and “Rome”, every cuss you can think of is allowed as long as it’s after 9pm).

    4. alethiakit says:

      Was the series edited for Australia? I didnt watch it on TV coz I was like, 11 when the show finshed so i own the DVDs which are un-edited, so i was just wondering?
      Wanker is a great word. As is ‘bint’ whats that mean?

    5. hannah_wish01 says:

      bint kinda means like a really stupid person, such as a person who has a blonde moment or something of the sort, its usualy dirrected towards females. although i may be wrong does anybody have a better deffinition??

    6. AnyaRocks says:

      A bint is another name for a female, pretty much. Spike’s always calling people a ‘daft bint’.

    7. MissKittyFantastico says:

      Yeah - it’s just another name for a woman I think, I guess usually used to be abusive - e.g. My dad is always calling me a Dizzy Bint (and I’m blonde!!)…

    8. AnyasFloppyEars says:

      ‘Bint’ is Arabic for ‘girl’; the Eighth Army imported the phrase back to England during the forties, and wove it into the patois of London. Thus ‘oi, gis a shufti at yer noo bint, yer miserable git’ translates from the London Arabic as ‘I say, let’s see your new girl, you gravid camel.’

    9. AnyaRocks says:

      Wow! You must be really clever. I never knew and I use the word of a semi-regular basis. I guess you really do learn something everyday :D

    10. Smash says:

      That is the funniest thing! I love how you never really think about slang untill you hear it literally translated

    11. hannah_wish01 says:

      lmao at Gravid camel i must use ‘bint’ more often now i know its origin!

    12. AnyasFloppyEars says:

      I’m not clever - but my dad was in the Eighth Army - so it’s all pretty much childhood hearing him swear and then copying him and then being told not to - because it’s WRONG - and suchlike :-)

      I’ve had another thought about ‘Wanker’, as well - I doubt the Australian networks pulled (sorry) the word, since Paul Hogan had a comedy series before he did his movie career, and one of his “characters” was a stuntman called Leo Wanker. So now you know.

    13. AnyaRocks says:

      And there was a crew member for Buffy called Thomas Wanker. Can’t remember what he did. I don’t watch the credits anymore.

    14. MagicBone says:

      He was the composer.

    15. Jaynesgirl says:

      I don’t remember seeing a Thomas Wanker but I do remember a Brian Wankum being credited on both latter Buffy and on Angel.

      The OED lists Wanker as being a “stupid or unpleasant person”

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