# bugger lugs



## Aimie

What's this??

I have just received a funny email with tittle "I have replied bugger lugs"

Là je suis scotchée..."J ai repondu "connasse" Whooops !  


HEEEEEEEEELLLPPPPP !

Merci à tous !


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## Keith Bradford

Bugger Lugs is a comic nickname with no particular meaning unless it's: _*An affectionate term for a child, particularly when it isn't listening to the adult, the implication being that the child's ears (lugs) have been fucked (or buggered) and can no longer hear as a result.*_
Source: Urban dictionary.


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## xiancee

"Bugger lugs " c'est de l'argot pour une personne dotée de grandes oreilles!


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## Aimie

Wow, j'étais bien bien loin de pouvoir comprendre!

Quel brio !

merci


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## moustic

Je suis d'accord avec Keith _*"an affectionate term for a child".
*_Pas nécessairement "une personne dotée de grandes oreilles" Xiancee !


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## xiancee

Pourtant j 'avais les mêmes sources que Keith mais à une autre page! Et il y avait des précisions sur lesquelles je n'ai pas jugé bon de m'étendre! see here


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## Keith Bradford

xiancee said:


> Pourtant j 'avais les mêmes sources que Keith mais à une autre page!


 
Oui mais (1) dans Urban Dico il faut consulter les notes données par les participants et (2) je suis anglophone, _Bugger Lugs_ est une expression que je connais depuis mon enfance.


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## Geordie_Wilber

Moi aussi, je suis d'accord avec Keith - sauf que, dans mon coin de l'UK, c'est pour les enfants de n'importe quel âge


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## xiancee

All right Keith I know you can be trusted!


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## Kakikako

I know the meanings given are right, and Keith's comment is probably the one that answers the original question. However, I wanted to say that I have heard "bugger lugs" used many times by a relation of mine who is originally from Yorkshire (I specify because it may be particular to the region).

He uses "bugger lugs" when talking about a person whose name he doesn't know, or can't remember, eg "This morning, I saw bugger lugs who lives in the house down the hill". It is slightly mocking, but not nasty and not a term of endearment either.


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## The Prof

Geordie_Wilber said:


> Moi aussi, je suis d'accord avec Keith - sauf que, dans mon coin de l'UK, c'est pour les enfants de n'importe quel âge


 

Et moi, aussi - c'est-à-dire que ce n'est pas limité aux enfants (mon mari me le dit souvent, surtout quand je fais plus d'attention à l'ordinateur et à ce forum qu'à lui)!



> He uses "bugger lugs" when talking about a person whose name he doesn't know, or can't remember, eg "This morning, I saw bugger lugs who lives in the house down the hill".


 
Both myself and the other half are from different parts of Yorkshire, but neither of us has heard the expression used like that!


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## Kakikako

My theory doesn't seem to work then. Maybe he's used it wrongly all his life and misled me as well!


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## xiancee

Maybe his ears were so buggered he could not really tell ...


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## LostTrolley

My mother-in-law used to refer to her dog as buggerlugs.  Unfortunately she did not send him postcards so it is hard to tell how she would have written it - but I feel that the space in the middle is optional.

She liked her dog better than most of us, so I'm sure it was not meant unkindly -and she definitely remembered his name.  But she was a Hampshire girl, and they probably do it differently down there


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## The Prof

LostTrolley said:


> My mother-in-law used to refer to her dog as buggerlugs. Unfortunately she did not send him postcards so it is hard to tell how she would have written it - but I feel that the space in the middle is optional.
> 
> She liked her dog better than most of us, so I'm sure it was not meant unkindly -and she definitely remembered his name. But she was a Hampshire girl, and they probably do it differently down there


 
That bears out the use of buggerlugs as an affectionate name, a pet name - quite literally, in this instance!

Aimie: I'm fairly certain that this is the meaning that your friend intended!


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## Keith Bradford

I think this word can be put in the same category as _chichy-face, pigeon-pie, sugar-lump_...  Translate (if necessary) as "_*ma grenouille*_" ????

But if you really want to convey the hard-of-hearing aspect (i.e. = _cloth-ears_) then its probably _Monsieur/Madame Sourdingue_ ???


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## The Prof

Kakikako said:


> I know the meanings given are right, and Keith's comment is probably the one that answers the original question. However, I wanted to say that I have heard "bugger lugs" used many times by a relation of mine who is originally from Yorkshire (I specify because it may be particular to the region).
> 
> He uses "bugger lugs" when talking about a person whose name he doesn't know, or can't remember, eg "This morning, I saw bugger lugs who lives in the house down the hill". It is slightly mocking, but not nasty and not a term of endearment either.


 
Hi again,

Although most of us don't seem to have heard _buggerlugs_ (or bugger lugs?) used in this way, I don't doubt that is the way your relation uses it. That particular use matches one of the definitions in the Urban dictionary, so he obviously isn't alone - unless he personally wrote this particular entry in the dictionary! 

Grumpy person - usually older, can be attributed to any person who is being a grumpy pain in the bum.

Now I'm wondering which meaning my husband _really_ has in mind when he calls me buggerlugs!


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## Kakikako

Hi Prof

I'm so glad you found this definition which seems to fit. I was getting really puzzled by this apparently "unique" way of using "bugger lugs" (pronounced 'Boogger logs' _à la_ Yorkshire!)

As for the meaning intended by your husband... I'm sure YOU know.


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## PouletteAuCurry

Hi everyone,
I can't think of one true equivalent word in French.
We do would have this idiomatic expression : "dur de la feuille" which means a bit deaf, usually used when someone is not listening ("T'es dur de la feuille, ou quoi ?"), but not specifically to children, and not really as a nickname.


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## xiancee

The Prof said:


> Hi again,
> 
> Although most of us don't seem to have heard _buggerlugs_ (or bugger lugs?) used in this way, I don't doubt that is the way your relation uses it. That particular use matches one of the definitions in the Urban dictionary, so he obviously isn't alone - unless he personally wrote this particular entry in the dictionary!
> 
> Grumpy person - usually older, can be attributed to any person who is being a grumpy pain in the bum.
> 
> Now I'm wondering which meaning my husband _really_ has in mind when he calls me buggerlugs!



I prefer not to think about it! Just check the other meanings of bugger lugs here : http://www.urbandictionary.com/


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## m41incanis

Listen, I'm from up north (north west England) and Keith is right.  It is used, like the term 'cloth ears' to refer to someone who isn't listening attentively.


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## orlando09

I just know it as a silly nickname with no particular meaning - I was a bit taken aback by the rather literalist version of the meaning supplied by Keith from Urban Dictionary. I am sure most people don't say it with that in mind! Lugs is an amusing name for ears, and I think here bugger is just used because of the sound it makes combined with lugs.


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## buggalugs22

Kakikako said:


> Hi Prof
> 
> I'm so glad you found this definition which seems to fit. I was getting really puzzled by this apparently "unique" way of using "bugger lugs" (pronounced 'Boogger logs' _à la_ Yorkshire!)
> 
> As for the meaning intended by your husband... I'm sure YOU know.



hi i use the term bugga lugs as a nickname term for my boyfriend and he calls it me
and as for '(pronounced 'Boogger logs' _à la_ Yorkshire!)''
where on earth do u got that from , im in yorkshire sheffield and we dont speak like that, no where near lol thats some sort of weird accent goin on there.
its pronounced ''bug a lugs'' bugga lugs 
its just a comic nickname for someone, has no real meaning. you could also call someone a cheeky little bugga


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## Aistriúchán

What is the slang equivalent of "lugs" < ears in French?


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## doinel

Feuilles de chou, portugaises ...


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## Uncle Bob

Sorry, I should have made my comment well over a year ago. While I do not dispute K.B.'s definition of the time I do wonder about the origins. I remember it from an early age when nobody, of any class, who was reasonably educated would normally use the word "bugger" and certainly not in the presence of a child. I have always known it as "bug-a-lugs".


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## guillaumedemanzac

I think you have all missed an important point and that is that the punctuation in the original is at fault. *"I have replied, Buggerlugs.*" is obviously an affectionate/abusive(friendly) greeting to someone you have not replied to previously in spite of several requests. Even I (who in Sussex have never come across this abusive affectionate term) would understand that if the capital B and the comma were inserted.
guillaume

P.S. xiancee, please do not reply to this as your picture - given the context of this thread - makes me laugh hilariously.


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## PaulQ

There's some irony in the fact that bugger was a French word; from the OED: 





> *Etymology:*  			 <  French _bougre_  <  Latin _Bulgarus_   Bulgarian, a name given to a sect of heretics who came from Bulgaria in  the 11th cent., afterwards to other ‘heretics’ (to whom abominable  practices were ascribed), also to usurers. See bougre n.
> 753 				   			  E. Chambers _Cycl._ Suppl. s.v.,    				The Buggers are mentioned by Matthew Paris‥under the name of  Bugares‥They were strenuously refuted by Fr. Robert, a Dominican,  surnamed the Bugger, as having formerly made profession of this heresy.


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## Ekibar

Keith Bradford said:


> Bugger Lugs is a comic nickname with no particular meaning unless it's: _*An affectionate term for a child, particularly when it isn't listening to the adult, the implication being that the child's ears (lugs) have been fucked (or buggered) and can no longer hear as a result.*_
> Source: Urban dictionary.



 Definitely an affectionate term,, a play of words on a person who is a day dreamer or mischievous, originating from.. 'Buggery' :"Doing it Wrong" To a child that will not listen, but, derived from an adult toning it down perspective to a child or apprentice.


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## Ekibar

PaulQ said:


> There's some irony in the fact that bugger was a French word; from the OED:



From where the English term for 'Doing it Wrong' (buggery) originated...now commonly used to describe anal sex or homosexual activities.. 



("There are no rules in English, only guidance. Some guidance looks like a rule; it probably isn't.") 

'English is English to the English'... An Olde Anglo, Saxon, Roman, Nordic, Normanic term.... hehehe


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## PaulQ

Ekibar said:


> From where the English term for 'Doing it Wrong' (buggery) originated...now commonly used to describe anal sex or homosexual activities..


It is the same origin as given in #28. If an action was seen as bad, evil, anti-social, then the Church encourage the people to think that heretics did it all the time.


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## Ekibar

PaulQ said:


> It is the same origin as given in #28. If an action was seen as bad, evil, anti-social, then the Church encourage the people to think that heretics did it all the time.



 Yes the Church has a lot to explain for our hypocrisy.. in all religion .. 'God will be brought to justice by his own demand'...

"I'm sorry father, but if you want me to give.. then by your rite of what you have made me and request of me.. I have the right to be.. or have you made of me an animal ?? "


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## BrianHH

The definition of this on the 'Urban Dictionary' is complete rubbish!  The word 'bugger' in english has many uses and the sexual one is the *least used*.  This term has nothing to do with buggering and nothing to do with ears.  'Bugger me' for example is used as an expression of surprise.

The term buggerlugs (in Britain at least) is always used as an effectionate term.  It is also only used with a person with whom there is a strong bond such as a child, a close friend etc.

Examples include....
Talking to a a baby or a kitten "Aren't you cute, bugger lugs"
Talking to a mischevious cat "what are you dong bugger lugs?"
Talking to a child taking ice cream when they should not "Not until tea-time  bugger lugs".

It is *always *affectionate, there is _sometimes _an implication of *mischievous* behavour.


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## PaulQ

This is how I understand ‘*buggerlugs*’





> *Buggerlugs *
> The Speaker of the Northern Territory Parliament ruled that buggerlugs was ‘unparliamentary language’. It strikes me as odd that this mild word was found to be so offensive. Its history appears to be this: it began in the Royal Navy some time in the 19th century where, says Jonathan Green, an expert on the history of slang, it was a casual and affectionate form of address, usually among men. Now ‘buggerlugs’ seems to have died out in much of the rest of the world and survived only in Australia, where it has two uses: either to refer to a specific but unnamed person (‘As buggerlugs at the post office was saying to me the other day ...‘), or as an affectionate form of address to a child (‘Come on, buggerlugs, it’s time for bed ...‘). Which of these meanings the Speaker of the Northern
> Territory Parliament took offence at is unclear.


 *Kel Richards' Dictionary of Australian Phrase and Fable *By Kel Richards (2013)

Not a pleasant or endearing character:


> “Mr. Haggerstone ... Jenny is in a spot of trouble at the moment and she needs my help. She is not married and the man who should be the father of her unborn child doesn’t want to know.”
> Old Buggerlugs raised his eyebrows and banged on one of the cafe tables, making the cups and saucers jump.
> “I don’t understand you young people at all, “he screamed, “Have you no morals? Don’t you realize the great importance it is to bring a child into the world?”


 *The Life Of Robert Peterson *By Paul Kelly

This is neat observation:


> Probably everyone would agree, however, that we are being ironic when we use “sunshine” to describe someone we consider villainous. Jonathon Green’s _The Slang Thesaurus _lists “sunshine” under “terms of friendship,” along with _ace, amigo, babycakes, buggerlugs, diddums, _and _love)’. _Somehow, though, “You’re nicked, buggerlugs” doesn’t have quite the same _je ne sais quoi. _


*Where There's Life, There's Lawsuits *By Jeffrey Miller


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