Git (slang)

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Git is a mild[1] pejorative with origins in British English for an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person.[2] It is usually an insult, more severe than twit or idiot but less severe than wanker, arsehole or twat.[1][3][4]

The word git first appeared in print in 1946, but is undoubtedly older. It is originally an alteration of the word get, dating back to the 14th century. A shortening of beget,[5] get insinuates that the recipient is someone's misbegotten offspring and therefore a bastard.[6] In parts of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland get is still used in preference to git; the get form is used in the Beatles song "I'm So Tired".

The word has been ruled by the Speaker of the House of Commons to be unparliamentary language.[7][8]

The word was used self-deprecatingly by Linus Torvalds in naming the Git version control system.[9][10]

References

  1. 1 2 "TV's most offensive words". The Guardian. November 21, 2005.
  2. ↑ Ayto, John; Simpson, John (2005), The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198610521
  3. ↑ Hughes, Geoffrey (2006), An encyclopedia of swearing: the social history of oaths, profanity, foul language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world, p. 200, ISBN 9780765612311
  4. ↑ McEnery, Tony (2006), Swearing in English: bad language, purity and power from 1586 to the present, Routledge, p. 30, ISBN 9780415258371
  5. ↑ Grose, Francis (1785), Classical dictionary of the vulgar tongue, S. Hooper,
  6. ↑ Harper, Douglas. "git". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  7. ↑ Hughes, Geoffrey (2006), An encyclopedia of swearing: the social history of oaths, profanity, foul language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world, p. 477, ISBN 9780765612311
  8. ↑ Hunt, M; Maloney, Alison (1999), Joy of Swearing, Michael O'Mara Books, ISBN 9781843171621
  9. ↑ "GitFaq: Why the 'git' name?". Git SCM Wiki.
  10. ↑ McMillan, Robert (April 19, 2005), "After controversy, Torvalds begins work on git", InfoWorld, ISSN 0199-6649


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