You Mean "Boffins" Isn't A Term Of Respect?

Wolfcat writes "SCIENTISTS no longer want to be called boffins, saying the name conjures an image of weird men in lab coats. The president of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), Chris Fell, today said 'boffin' also suggested scientists were not part of the real world." Look soon for a redacted version of The Register.

Comments

Term of abuse or recognition of ability?

[Anonymous Coward]

When I was at school 'boffin' was used as aterm of abuse by the nasty bullies to describe the bright kids who actually had a brain in their heads.

I was called a boffin. At the time it hurt, now I wouldn't really have a problem with it as I think of someone using the word as recognising that someone has a technical knowledge that should be admired (it's a favourite of the British tabloid press).

No-one calls me a boffin anymore and I don't really feel like one. I can't even remember my Slashdot password!

Thoughts on Boffins

[Idarubicin]

For those who don't know, boffin is a slang term for a scientist. Sometimes it also is applied more generally to people who are very bright, technically adept, and slightly odd. It might be used in a cotext similar to 'nerd' or 'geek', though it has a friendlier tone.

The term is most popular in the United Kingdom and some of its former colonies (not Canada, however.) In the United States, the only place you're likely to hear it is on imported television, particularly the series Junkyard Wars (a.k.a. Scrapheap Challenge in the U.K.; it runs on Wednesday nights on TLC.) On that note, host Cathy Rogers can call me whatever she wants. Junkyward Wars also exposes the world to words like bodge (v., n., syn. kludge) and brill (adj. syn. Awesome! Derived from 'brilliant'). For further Britishisms, refer to the British-American Dictionary.

To close, then. I'm a boffin, and proud of it. If the Australians are too uptight to recognize a compliment when they hear one--well, they can sod off.