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The trespasser by tana french7/5/2023 That was the gaffer getting all up in our grille.Ī gaffer is a boss or foreman. The OED says the origin is uncertain but cites the theory that it’s an alteration of box-standard, an old term for the hollow column or standard for a machine, with bog meaning a lavatory or toilet. Something bog-standard is something ordinary, basic, or unexceptional. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) says thicko is a shortening of thickhead, a stupid person.īreslin’s planning on working a long shift, for a bog-standard case. Thicko Skanger, skanger, or scanger seems to be the Irish slang equivalent of the British chav, a disparaging term for a young, presumably uneducated person with a brash sense of style and manner. I put on the Thicko Skanger act too, now and then, but I do it for suspects, not for my own squad. Welcome to the third installment of “Five words from …” our series which highlights interesting words from interesting books! Up now is Tana French’s The Trespasser, a crime thriller that’s chock-full of excellent Irish slang.
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