Re: Duffers


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Posted by Allan_Lang on April 27, 2012 at 16:51:15 user Allan_Lang.

In Reply to: Re: Duffers posted by Adam Quinan on April 27, 2012 at 07:15:41:

The cattle rustler meaning appears to be a specifically Australian usage. Elsewhere, the primary meaning appears to be someone who is not very good at something, particularly a sport such as golf. Originally it seems to have been a term for a peddler of cheap and flashy goods of low quality.

I suspect the Australian usage is closer to the original usage.

Captain Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgae Tounge has
DUFFERS.

Cheats who ply in different parts of the town, particularly about Water-lane, opposite St. Clement's church, in the Strand, and pretend to deal in smuggled goods, stopping all country people, or such as they think they can impose on; which they frequently do, by selling them Spital-fields goods at double their current price

GA Wilkes in Exploring Australian English has the original Australian of duffer as "a mining claim which betrayed it's promise", obviously derived from the previous. Which would put the origin of that new usage (newsage?) as c.1850-1870.

"Duff", the Austalian term for "suspect" or "suss" also appears to date from around this time.

"Duffer", Australian usage for someone stealing and selling "duff" cattle appears to date from 1897-1890, according to the OED.

OED also indicates "duffer" as incompetent entered English in the same period from the Scottish "doofart".

But the origin appears to be separate: "doofart" coming from "douf" or "deaf", while "duff" jewellery comed from the "duff" variant of "dough" eg Plum Duff.




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