# Dead chuffed



## Dimme

Hello everyone. Could someone tell me what the underlined, coloured expression means? Thanks.

"I was dead, dead chuffed." he said. "It was brilliant. Being a Yorkshireman, there's not many of us guys that get to this position. I just feel quite honoured."


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## ewie

Hello Dimme ~ it just means _very very pleased_ ~ it's actually in the WordRef *dictionary *at the top of the page  I'd classify it as 'not quite slang but very _very_ informal'.


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## bibliolept

And it is most definitely not AE slang.


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## sound shift

bibliolept said:


> And it is most definitely not AE slang.



I thought that was the case. "Stoked" is possibly the closest AE equivalent.


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## JamesM

I had never thought of "stoked" and "chuffed" together, but that seems to be a perfect equivalent! I love this board. There's something new to learn (or have connected for you) every day.

Just checking one thing... "stoked" means excited and happy, "keyed up" about something.  Is that what "chuffed" means?  Sometimes it seems that "chuffed" seems to mean "proud" in a way.  That may just be my misinterpretation of the context.


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## ewie

I'd never thought of _chuffed_ and _stoked_ together either, James ... because I'd never heard of _stoked_ until today!

For me _chuffed_ is absolutely synonymous with _pleased_ ~ if there's any trace of 'pleased with oneself', it's infinitesimal.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

Other than in the case of coal-fired steam engines, I had never heard of "stoked" either. Is it a regionalism?


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## bibliolept

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> Other than in the case of coal-fired steam engines, I had never heard of "stoked" either. Is it a regionalism?



It became popular in the sixties in California, I believe.


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## kenny4528

I came upon stoked being used in Oz after people having the weed. They felt dizzy and said I'm stoked.


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## JamesM

Maybe they aren't synonymous, then.  "I was totally stoked when I heard that I would get to go to Paris" would mean "excited and pleased".   Does "chuffed" mean "excited" at all?


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## Thomas Tompion

Not really.  I agree with Ewie that it means almost exactly the same as _pleased_.  I detect no whiff of pleased with oneself, or of excitement, other than is naturally present in pleasure.


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## sound shift

There's a large overlap between "chuffed" and "pleased", but I don't think they are interchangeable. At least, I personally wouldn't say "I'm chuffed that the government has finally decided to do something about it"; I would use "pleased" in place of "chuffed" here.


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## Thomas Tompion

I didn't wish to say they were interchangeable, just that they meant the same thing.  There are great differences of register.


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## sound shift

Sorry, I wasn't commenting on your post, Thomas, but on Ewie's claim that "pleased" and "chuffed" are "absolutely synonymous". I don't think they are, and I think the difference is one of meaninig as well as register.


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## Thomas Tompion

What do you see as the outstanding differences, SS?


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## sound shift

I think "chuffed" applies only to an event that directly affects the person who is the subject, Thomas:-

"She was chuffed to receive a letter from him";
"I was chuffed to be given 'A' grades in all subjects" (an unlikely scenario );

etc,

*but not

*"I am chuffed that the weak pound is, supposedly, helping exporters."  This does not concern me directly; I would use "pleased" in place of "chuffed" here.

Perhaps this is just deviant personal usage.


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## cuchuflete

bibliolept said:


> It became popular in the sixties in California, I believe.


It  (stoked) never made it East of the Mississippi, it seems.  We just don't take well to
those surfer expressions.  

I understand 'chuffed', from the way my BE acquaintances use it, as informal.  It's an enthusiastic expression of pleasure.  I look to ewie, Thomas, Sound shift and others to comment on this.  I've never heard a BE speaker say that they are chuffed or dead chuffed in a soft monotone.  It's always an energetic statement.


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## sound shift

I learned the word "stoked" from one Henry Rollins, who said he was "stoked" to receive a letter from Wayne Kramer (of MC5 fame). Rollins was originally from Washington, DC, but he moved to California ....

I agree with you, cuchu, that "chuffed" is an enthusiastic expression of pleasure. I think it also contains an element of pride.


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## ewie

sound shift said:


> I think "chuffed" applies only to an event that directly affects the person who is the subject, Thomas:-
> 
> "She was chuffed to receive a letter from him";
> "I was chuffed to be given 'A' grades in all subjects" (an unlikely scenario );
> 
> etc,
> 
> *but not
> 
> *"I am chuffed that the weak pound is, supposedly, helping exporters."  This does not concern me directly; I would use "pleased" in place of "chuffed" here.
> 
> Perhaps this is just deviant personal usage.


I take your point, SS ... well, kind of.  I'd still say _chuffed_ and _pleased_ mean *exactly the same thing *(albeit _chuffed _is a bit more enthusiastic than _pleased_, as Cuchie says): the only difference is when and where you use them.


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## Cypherpunk

I live just west of the Mississippi, and I've traveled extensively throughout the South. I've heard 'stoked' in most of the region, at one time or another. It is very much a Gen X phrase, but it is often used by teenagers, too. 
I have often heard it as a synonym for 'pumped' or 'pumped up', meaning _very excited_, and the person often provides additional emphasis by gesture or body movement.


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## bennymix

In BE, 'chuffed' has, as well, an opposite meaning (displeased, etc.).   Is that seen much, still, in BE?    To my AE ear, the negative is what first comes to mind.

*meaning - Chuffed - happy or unhappy? - English Language & Usage ...*

The OED says _chuffed_ is originally military slang, and has both meanings. The "pleased, satisfied" meaning has four quotations from 1957 to 1967, whilst the "displeased, disgruntled" meaning has two, in 1960 and 1964.

====
NOTE:
Brief discussion in another thread:
Can a chuff be chuffed?


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## Chasint

bennymix said:


> In BE, 'chuffed' has, as well, an opposite meaning (displeased, etc.).   Is that seen much, still, in BE?    To my AE ear, the negative is what first comes to mind.
> 
> *meaning - Chuffed - happy or unhappy? - English Language & Usage ...*


Having clicked on that link, I think you will get exactly the same answers here.

I personally have only ever heard the positive version. It came as a complete surprise that the expression could have a negative sense.

EDIT

*However*

If someone spoke to me about the *chuffing* buses always being late, for example, I would assume it was a euphemism for f*cking. In fact I have heard that negative usage.


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## bennymix

This discussant could find only the positive in BE examples:  “Chuffed”


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## Hermione Golightly

> I personally have only ever heard the positive version. It came as a complete surprise that the expression could have a negative sense


.

Same here.


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## london calling

As a BE speaker I never, ever think of _chuffed _as having a negative connotation.


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## heypresto

Nor me. 

Chambers Dictionary also lists the 'disgruntled' meaning, but I've never seen or heard it before today. Collins lists it too, but marks it as AE.


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## bennymix

One Canadian in the Stack thread cited reported his or her experience like mine: 

In Canada we use this word as a negative: "I was really chuffed that I didn't get that raise."
======================

My impression (AE speaker, long resident in Canada) that the negative turns up--occasionally-- mostly in US, Canada, and maybe Australia, not the UK.


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## JamesM

bennymix said:


> One Canadian in the Stack thread cited reported his or her experience like mine:
> 
> In Canada we use this word as a negative: "I was really chuffed that I didn't get that raise."
> ======================
> 
> My impression (AE speaker, long resident in Canada) that the negative turns up--occasionally-- mostly in US, Canada, and maybe Australia, not the UK.



"Chuffed" isn't a word I've ever heard from an American.  As a negative, "chapped" would probably work in your example.


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## Oddmania

I'm not familiar with _chuffed _as a negative word either, but I _have _heard _dischuffed _(a couple of times) and _gutted _(much more often) from English and Irish speakers to express dissatisfaction. I think an American speaker would be more likely to say "bummed out", probably.


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## bennymix

I live 'dischuffed';  also, 'chuffed to tiny mint balls.'


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## You little ripper!

It must be  at least twenty years  or so since I last heard the word 'chuffed'. I didn't know it had a negative meaning. 'Stoked' was pretty popular here in the sixties and seventies.


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## ewie

Chasint said:


> I personally have only ever heard the positive version. It came as a complete surprise that the expression could have a negative sense.


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## PaulQ

bennymix said:


> In BE, 'chuffed' has, as well, an opposite meaning (displeased, etc.).   Is that seen much, still, in BE?    To my AE ear, the negative is what first comes to mind.
> 
> *meaning - Chuffed - happy or unhappy? - English Language & Usage ...*
> 
> The OED says _chuffed_ is originally military slang, and has both meanings. The "pleased, satisfied" meaning has four quotations from 1957 to 1967, whilst the "displeased, disgruntled" meaning has two, in 1960 and 1964.
> 
> ====
> NOTE:
> Brief discussion in another thread:
> Can a chuff be chuffed?


I was reading down the list of posts, waiting for that to appear. Yes: I have heard this use a few times - it is rare, and I think, regional. It caused a lot of surprised. I can't recall the exact scenario but it was along the lines of "I was really chuffed when he died. I cried."

OED:
 a. Pleased, satisfied.
1957   P. Wildeblood Main Chance ix. 163   Aren't you pleased? There's not many kids of your age what owns a factory. You ought to be dead chuffed about it.
1967   Crescendo May 6 (advt.)    I cannot express too much just how ‘chuffed’ I am with the drums.

b. Displeased, disgruntled.
1960   D. Storey This Sporting Life i. ii. 59   I felt pretty chuffed with myself1.
1964   C. Dale Other People viii. 158   Don't let on they're after you, see, or she'll be dead chuffed, see? She don' like the law.

1The context makes it clearer in the book: This Sporting Life


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## natkretep

I know about the negative version but have only encountered the positive version of _chuffed - _often intensified as in the original example _dead chuffed_ or _chuffed to bits_.


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## Thomas Tompion

natkretep said:


> I know about the negative version but have only encountered the positive version of _chuffed - _often intensified as in the original example _dead chuffed_ or _chuffed to bits_.


You've reminded me, Natkretep.

I had a friend who was doing National Service.  He said that on his first day in the food queue, the squaddie in front of him asked what was for afters, on hearing that it was 'duff', he said 'Oooo, chuuffed to fuck; I'm a bugger for duff'.  

As he said it, it tripped off the tongue.


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## heypresto

Thomas Tompion said:


> As he said it, it tripped off the tongue.


 The perfect first line of a Kiplingesque poem, I'd say.


I shall set about it now . . .


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## natkretep

And that's a positive use too, TT!


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## bennymix

Thomas Tompion said:


> You've reminded me, Natkretep.
> 
> I had a friend who was doing National Service.  He said that on his first day in the food queue, the squaddie in front of him asked what was for afters, on hearing that it was 'duff', he said 'Oooo, chuuffed to fuck; I'm a bugger for duff'.
> 
> As he said it, it tripped off the tongue.




Is this a correct translation:   "I'm pleased to pieces;  I love this [kind of] pudding."
(I'm assuming the positive sense, if perhaps hyperbolic and/or tongue in cheek.)


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## natkretep

bennymix said:


> Is this a correct translation:   "I'm pleased to pieces;  I love this [kind of] pudding."
> (I'm assuming the positive sense, if perhaps hyperbolic and/or tongue in cheek.)


Yes, correct.


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## Thomas Tompion

natkretep said:


> And that's a positive use too, TT!


Yes, indeed.

I've never heard _chuffed_ in anything other than a positive sense, though, like everything else, it could be used ironically.

I should have mentioned that the u-sounds in every word spoken by the duff-lover are almost identical, taking into account the demotic nature of the man's normal way of speaking.


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## Trochfa

Just to chorus the boring uninamity of the BrE speakers, I've definitely only ever heard 'chuffed' used in a positive way. It was certainly a surprise to discover that anyone used it negatively. 

That's why Paul's quote of 


PaulQ said:


> "I was really chuffed when he died. I cried."


seems utterly bizarre, unless you absolutely hated that person and were overjoyed. If I heard someone say it I would understand what they meant by context, but might have wrongly assumed that they just didn't know what 'chuffed' actually meant.


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## JulianStuart

Chuffed for me too has the positive sense of gruntled  and never the negative one.


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## bennymix

JulianStuart said:


> Chuffed for me too has the positive sense of gruntled  and never the negative one.



Like 'couth', I suppose.   I'd point out too that sentences like "I was too chuffin' knackered to go to work the next day" {I believe it's correct BE}confuse the picture.


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## JulianStuart

bennymix said:


> Like 'couth', I suppose.   I'd point out too that sentences like "I was too chuffin' knackered to go to work the next day" {I believe it's correct BE}confuse the picture.


I'd never heard if "chuffin'" before and would take as the euphemism mentioned above with its f and u sounds 


Chasint said:


> If someone spoke to me about the *chuffing* buses always being late, for example, I would assume it was a euphemism for f*cking. In fact I have heard that negative usage.


and would not immediately link it to the word chuffed.  So I would not find it "confusing" but I can see what a non-BE speaker trying to get to the bottom of this might be


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## Trochfa

I agree with Julian. In BrE, _Chuffin'_ is not the same as _chuffed_ it is just another word used to take the place of any swear word.

You have at least three types of this type of word in British English, all used for different purposes:
_Chuffed_ and _dead chuffed_, informally used respectively to mean 'very pleased' and 'extremely pleased'.

_Chuffin', _just used in the same way as other stand-in words for swear words such as_ bloomin', blinkin' _and_ flippin'._
You can tell it's not a word associated with meaning 1. above because you can say things such as _I was livid this morning because the chuffin' train was late. _I associate this word mainly with the north of England, which may possibly be why Julian wasn't familiar with it. It seems to be known elsewhere now, especially in these days where TV presenters have regional accents. I especially associate it with comedians such as Peter Kay and Paddy McGuiness from Bolton in Lancashire.
Peter Kay - Wikipedia
Paddy McGuinness - Wikipedia

However, I can't imagine anyone saying_ I was chuffin'_ on its own in BrE unless they are five years old and have been playing _choo-choo trains_! 

You also have _chuff off_ as in _Just chuff off mate!_ where it can clearly be seen as a stand-in for a swear word.
chuff off | Definition of chuff off in English by Oxford Dictionaries

>>>>


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