3 ms·
Love the word "boffin". I think we should use "pundit" more often as well.
by gadders 4mo ago
Love the word "boffin". I think we should use "pundit" more often as well.
- Anthony-G 4mo agoAs soon as I saw this word, I guessed that El Reg was the source.
- happytoexplain 4mo agoI was surprised to see it - I thought "boffin" was good-natured but highly irreverent, like "nerd". But I can't imagine any publication writing the headline, "Computer nerd claims Microsoft's supposed quantum leap does not compute."
- SAI_Peregrinus 4mo agoThe Register is highly irreverent, as a rule.
- cpncrunch 4mo agoIt's typical of the Register. They always use the word "boffin" for expert/scientist. It's a british word used to describe a clever person.
- MobiusHorizons 4mo agoRoughly interchangeable with egg head I think, although more used and slightly more endearing.
- KineticLensman 4mo agoUsed in WW2 to refer to radar engineers, bouncing bomb designers etc
- wiml 4mo ago"Good natured but highly irreverent" is pretty much The Register's house style.
- gh02t 4mo agoTo be fair, "boffin" usually implies someone has relevant (usually scientific) expertise, but nerd doesn't. Henry Legg has the relevant credentials to give weight to his claims, he's not just some random basement nerd.
- sensanaty 4mo agoCompletely unrelated but I'm always sad that Umbra, Penumbra and Equinox aren't used very often in day-to-day speech, very cool sounding words.
- devin 4mo agoAlso, adumbrate.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- mellosouls 4mo agoTheRegister - like, say Viz - likes its lazy, outdated journalistic stereotypes and tropes. That's not being critical of them; its their humour, they mimic the crassness and condescension of tabloid journalism, particularly that of the 70s and 80s (even tabloids have moved on). When you see cliches like boffin, nanny state, egghead etc etc in a HN title, you can be reasonably confident its El Reg.