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

Posted by timothy on from the and-here-all-this-time-i-was-thinkin' dept.

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.

15 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Crackers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I bet this'll be about as successful as the self-proclaimed "hackers" trying to rename the people that break into computers. Or those who insist that the word "piracy" can't possibly ever be a synonym for "copyright infringement".

    1. Re:Crackers by Simon+Field · · Score: 2, Funny


      While you're right about the chances of success, your comparisons might be a little off.

      The first one is about a group of people trying to rename another group. The second one is weak because the "pirates" wouldn't want to be called "copyright infringers" either. They would rather claim "fair use".

      To get the media to change the name for them, they need to invent a new meaning for the term, so the media will have to distinguish scientists from boffins. So if they secretly fund a group of Lilliputian terrorists, on the condition that they name themseves "boffins", then the media will be forced to make a distinction, to avoid being misunderstood.

      Perhaps we can start calling copyright infringers boffins, and help out the Australian scientists.

      --

      Free book: Science Toys You Can Make

  2. But on the other hand by Genoxide · · Score: 3, Funny

    "SCIENTISTS no longer want to be called boffins, saying the name conjures an image of weird men in lab coats."

    Hmm... when I hear "Boffin" I think of Hobbits.. not scientests!

  3. According to MY version of the OED... by tgv · · Score: 3, Funny

    A boffin is "a person engaged in scientific (esp. military) research".

    So, if you're a genuine pacifist scientist, you might oppose, but otherwise it's just another way of making sure that in 20 years time scientists will oppose to being described as "scientists", as it will have some negative connotations.

    Imagine, this is on "FASTS"'s top ten issues for 2003. I guess one of the other issues is: what to do when you have too much spare time.

    1. Re:According to MY version of the OED... by HamNRye · · Score: 2, Funny

      Gee, if an accurate term becomes an insult, what is an accurate view of your profession?? Next, whores will be complaining that the term "Whore" is negative, and makes it seem like they sleep with lots of guys. Hello Boffins! You really are funny little men in lab coats.

      I am a geek. I can write volumes about how to win at Civ. I program fractals in Perl. Calling me "Technically Adept" is just a polite way of saying "Programs fractals in Perl". Perhaps instead of Boffins we could call them "Logrolling patent whores". OOOH! I like the sound of that...

      Besides, this is from Australia. They haven't had a big scientific breakthrough since Yahoo Serious put the bubbles into beer.

      In related news, certain Quarks have objected to being labelled "Strange" by Austrailian scientists. "It's demeaning," said an unidentified quark, "How do you look at your kids and say, 'We're strange quarks honey.' Last thing I need is some funny guy in a lab coat imposing his own view of normalcy on my existence."

      ~Hammy
      I've got a brand new release of PGP
      You've got a brand new key...

  4. I can see the Register guys scrambling by Frantactical+Fruke · · Score: 4, Funny

    Going

    s/boffins/funny men in white lab coats/

    all over their database...

  5. Term of abuse or recognition of ability? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    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!

  6. Re:Given the obvious root... by Doctor+Hu · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Hmm. Possibly, but... my dictionary gives the origin as being military slang, and although the military are not exactly well-known for being polite in their everyday language, boffin's been around for quite a while; I'm pretty sure I can recall it being used back in the 1950's, at a time when the 'f' word was still very taboo in regular society. I'm not convinced that such a vulgar coinage would have leaked out into general use (the less extreme counter-example of "bumf" notwithstanding).

    --
    Yes, it's lunchtime here. How did you guess?

  7. Or they could apply the geek solution... by Doctor+Hu · · Score: 4, Insightful
    And reclaim the term as one of respect.

    Doctor Hu (one of several 'old farts' and 'dinosaurs' who are helping to keep our employer's head above water.)

  8. Re:Given the obvious root... by CptCook · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess it's understandable though that they don't want to be referred to as boffins. That surely just makes the general public think of stereo typical mad scientists!!

  9. In Other News... by CTD · · Score: 3, Funny

    The West Coast activist group, Californians Remove Air's Sensless Simplifications, has begun to lobby the Californian senate to pass a resolution banning the public use of the word 'air', supporting the use of 'atmosphere' as a better term.

    "We feel that people don't take the levity of the atmosphere serious enough." said Nancy Pender, President of CRASS, "They are always saying things like "The sky is falling." and yet they still pollute the atmosphere. We seek to force them to use a larger word, so they have to think harder before they pollute."

    *****

    This is stupid. 'Scientist' is now going to have to be filed next to 'Sanitation Engineer' as another politically correct job description? Phoey! I think it's a conspiracy. Those eggheads never stop to pull their lame brains out of books and computers! Someone must have formed a PAC around them while the geek squad was not looking. I suspect the Barvarians...

    --
    Grimwell - old, cranky, mean, obsessive
  10. Boffins vs. BOFHins by Ratfor77 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, but is BOFHin still acceptable?

  11. spare time by AstroMage · · Score: 2, Funny

    Imagine, this is on "FASTS"'s top ten issues for 2003. I guess one of the other issues is: what to do when you have too much spare time.

    The answer, obvioiusly, is "go read Slashdot and post funny comments..." :-)

  12. Where is this term from? by ggwood · · Score: 2

    I have never heard the term "boffin" before and I have hung out at physics departments for over 12 years where many people have ties to military research. But mostly in Southern California.

    So my question is, to those of you who have heard this term, or use it, where are you? Anyone here on the west cost? Do I just live a sheltered life? (Hey, I *like* shelter).

    Cheers,
    Greg

    --
    a war on terrorism? How can we end a war on a method?
  13. Thoughts on Boffins by Idarubicin · · Score: 3, Informative
    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.

    --
    ~Idarubicin