If you grew up watching Only Fools and Horses, you’ll be well-acquainted with words like ‘plonker’ and ‘prat’, as Del Boy regularly hurled insults like this at his brother, Rodney.
But these quintessentially British words are apparently at risk of going extinct, as they aren’t being passed down and used by the younger generation.
In fact, a large percentage of those aged under 28 say they’ve never heard the insults before, and haven’t got a clue what they mean.
A new study has revealed that for Gen Z insults are now referred to as ‘put downs’ and they sound a bit more like ‘you’re so basic’ and ‘don’t be a Karen’ as opposed to ‘stop being a pillock’.
As such, classic terms like ‘nitwit’, ‘git’, and ‘numpty’ could end up dying out altogether in future, as language continues to change and evolve.
The survey of 2,000 people found that nearly half of youngsters had never heard of ‘cad’ as an insult, which refers to an unreliable character — particularly a man who has behaved badly with disregard to women.
Meanwhile nearly six in 10 of the Gen Z demographic surveyed hadn’t heard of ‘berk’ (which means idiot), and a whopping 62% had never come across ‘lummox’, the East Anglian term for clumsy.
Despite our differences with words, it seems we can all agree that us Brits have a unique style when it comes to our insults, as 72% of all ages felt this way.
Similarly, a whopping 81% thought that insulting our loved ones with backhanded terms of endearment was a ‘very British’ thing to do, and 68% are convinced that Britain has the best insults in the world.
Perhaps that’s a sign we shouldn’t let these ones go just yet…
British insults set to die out within a generation:
- Lummox (62 percent)
- Bampot (60 percent)
- Blighter (54 percent)
- Ninny (51 percent)
- Cad (47 percent)
- Drip (42 percent)
- Tosspot (36 percent)
- Toe rag (34 percent)
- Pillock (33 percent)
- Plonker (25 percent)
- Nitwit (27 percent)
- Prat (25 percent)
- Scallywag (26 percent)
- Git (26 percent)
- Numpty (22 percent)
Harriet Scott, CEO of Perspectus Global, said: ‘Our research shows that calling someone a plonker or a prat is no longer a fashionable way to insult them. Interestingly, the research highlights the extent to which Brits feel some of the more traditional jibes, feel softer and less severe, than some of today’s more controversial ones.
’It has been fascinating researching thousands of old insults such “mooncalf” which used to mean a fool – or “Cozener” meaning a trickster dating back to Shakespearean England.’
This comes after Uswitch revealed that almost a quarter of young people aged 18 to 34 have never answered a phone call. Instead, they simply ignore it when it rings and opt to text a friend or family member, rather than calling them back.
Many claim the reason they don’t answer the phone is that there’s too much ‘pressure’, with over half assuming that getting called out of the blue means they are going to receive bad news.
The only way the younger generation will chat to someone on the phone is if the call has been scheduled in advance.
‘I would never pick up a phone call unless I’m expecting it,’ says Freya Mallard, a 26-year-old comedian from Haringey. ‘I just couldn’t be sure of what to expect unless we pre-arrange a time to speak on the phone, and my friends are the same.
‘We just don’t do spontaneous phone calls anymore – I prefer a voice note, there’s much less pressure that way. My mum, on the other hand, loves an out of the blue phone call, no matter how I feel about it!’
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
MORE : 00s icon LeAnn Rimes reclaims her lost youth at London’s O2 Arena
MORE : 90s rockstar, 58, falls off stage during guitar solo
MORE : Noughties chart-topper, 42, hasn’t aged 18 years after massive hit
Sign up to our guide to what’s on in London, trusted reviews, brilliant offers and competitions. London’s best bits in your inbox
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.