*****

[Beastly]

Has anybody heard of the derogatory term '*****' ? I have just been called one and I'm not sure whether to be offended or not.

[Ferg]

That has been blanked out. Can you try and spell it another way?

[Beastly]

Yes Ferg. thanks for your reply. it is not a swear word I promise. T.*.*.*.*

[Ferg]

Is this some sort of game of hangman Beastly?

[THECORBYLOON]

Write it in reverse before we all lose the will to live..........

[Beastly]

knawt

[alfiebrady]

With an 'o', instead of an 'a', the word was used in an episode of 'Only Fools And Horses', meaning roughly the same as 'pillock'.

[THECORBYLOON]

It's meant to come from TW** (ta in reverse) and plONKer. Not sure how true that is but. The word berk is sometimes used and is thought to be a mild word but it is rhyming slang and is abusive.

[Ferg]

Perhaps it's a combination of 2 words (I'm sure you know the ones I mean). Therefore I would suggest it is offensive if said in a nasty way, or mere friendly banter if said with a smile on the facee.

It could also be that the person who called you it meant to say a different word and just made a mistake, therefore I would say that the joke is on them.

[jno]

yes, abusive words can have different meanings according to the tone of voice, and I think this is one of them. Likewise berk is much less offensive than the rhyming slang it comes from. So it's really a question of whether the person who used it meant to offend you. If he/she did, and you just looked blankly back at him, that probably took the wind out of his sails!

[Loosehead]

I think "tw0nk" is actually a made up swear word, by John Sullivan for OFAH. Plonker is used a lot too but I think that's much older.