Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 At 08:02 PM 1/31/04 -0000, you wrote: >Jo, >I had never seen the word " faffy " before your post, and I take it to >be unique to British dialects of English. *snip* > I can't believe I actually read through that entire post. Good laugh. And as soon as the British members clear up the bloody confusion, I could use some help in other UK translations. " What's your excuse? " " I'm Irish, what's yours? " " You're Irish. " MFJ Any moment in which you feel like dancing is a perfect moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 --- Anton <bwp@...> wrote: > Wow, , I'm impressed, you have been busy! I had no idea the word Faffy was in such common use! lol! This one probably sums up my usage best: > <http://pewari.may.be/archives/000419.html> > " Parsnip cakes... hmm... came out a mixed > consistency (I obviously > didn't make them well), were way too faffy to make .... " > > <http://www.melanies-uk-swingers.com/melsbits/whoismel.htm> > " My Dislikes : I hate feet, B.O, fish and faffy > food, oh yeah....and > knob shots. " I had to think long and hard about what knob shots might be, so I searched and learnt pretty damn quickly! This also is a good way to use faffy: <http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/food_and_beverages/recipies/preserves/_review > /313099/> > You > could make lemon curd tarts but I always think that > they're > disproportionately faffy for the amount of pleasure > that they give. <snip> > This is an entertaining article worth reading, yet > the sense > of " faffy " in unclear. Could it mean fibrous? The > lentil example > could be interpreted this way as well. While > lacking the independent > evidence the negative processual interpretation > enjoys, this > interpretation is bolstered by the highly suggestive > phrase " healthy > sticks-and-leaves " faffy " food " . I would > appreciate clarification > on this one in particular, Jo. > <http://www.tomboy-films.co.uk/pot.html> > " It all began at the end of September when Terry hit > primetime > television advertising. He and fellow Welshman , > played by > Ellis, see a poster promoting the fibre goodness of > Pot Noodles and > launch an attack on healthy sticks-and-leaves > " faffy " food. > Faffy food eaters are idiots who look particularly > idiotic when > exercising. " Oh, I feel so fibrous, " they say. <snip> Faffy in this sense still means the same as in your other examples. This article is comparing a person who treats food as functional to someone who cares about what they eat. As the word " faff " has negative connotations of time wasted, the comparison is derogatory, implying the person who cares about what they eat is wasting their time by preparing food. It's an interesting phrase, because to them nutritious food is " faffy " and therefore a waste of time, whereas Pot Noodle is quick and easy and devoid of any and all nutrition, but it's quick, therefore not faffy, and so should be the food of choice. (Although I guess in the case of the advert, Pot Noodle are trying to promote the fibre content of the snack in a desperate attempt to find something healthy to say about it) Faffy has nothing to do with fibre - that part is a sarcastic comment about " sticks-and-leaves " food being good for the bowel! As an aside, my boyfriend thinks I faff around in the mornings. He takes 15 mins to get ready, I take considerably longer. He can't understand what I do that takes so long, it can't possibly be worth it, so it is faffing! I juts tell him to live with it and shut up! > I would be remiss not to share this one with anyonen > who's read this > far: > <http://www.nzhealth.net.nz/diet/fat.shtml> > " Does the continuing degradation of faffy acids in > popular diets do > more harm than good? Udo Erasmus discusses his > concept of the 'Right > Fat Diet' in a recent issue of the International > Journal of > Alternative and Complementary Medicne. " Lol! An Encarta definition: faff about [fàf & #601; bówt] or faff a·round [fàf & #601; bówt] (past faffed a·round, past participle faffed a·round, present participle faff·ing a·round, 3rd person present singular faffs a·round) vi U.K. waste time: to waste time by being indecisive or fussing unnecessarily (informal) [Faff thought to suggest the action of the breeze. Originally “to blow as a light blustery wind.”] Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Jo ___________________________________________________________ BT Broadband - Free modem offer, sign up online today and save £80 http://bt..co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ > Faffy in this sense still means the same as in your > other examples. This article is comparing a person > who treats food as functional to someone who cares > about what they eat. As the word " faff " has negative > connotations of time wasted, the comparison is > derogatory, implying the person who cares about what > they eat is wasting their time by preparing food. @@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@ > As an aside, my boyfriend thinks I faff around in the > mornings. He takes 15 mins to get ready, I take > considerably longer. He can't understand what I do > that takes so long, it can't possibly be worth it, so > it is faffing! I juts tell him to live with it and > shut up! @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ > An Encarta definition: > > faff about [fàf & #601; bówt] > or faff a·round [fàf & #601; bówt] (past faffed > a·round, past participle faffed a·round, present > participle faff·ing a·round, 3rd person present > singular faffs a·round) > vi > U.K. waste time: to waste time by being indecisive or > fussing unnecessarily (informal) @@@@@@@@@@@ Jo, thanks! My understanding has deepened greatly, and your remarks on Pot Noodles are very insightful. I forgot to include my idea about unifying the " time wasting " sense with the other senses, which is simply that " dwelling on details " can result in the sort of indecisive or unproductive time expenditure of faffing. This fits with my view of the core concept as " extra detail " . So many of the examples, including your usage and the " faffing around " sense, can be reduced to " fussing over details " . Any thoughts on the Sting example, or the flowery/gay sense? Mike SE Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 Further explanation where possible: --- Anton <bwp@...> wrote: > > The sense of > " decorative/flowery/appurtenant/embellishing/baroque " > > seems to be witnessed by the following examples, but > note that unlike > all the other cases, it doesn't have a clear > negative implication: > > <http://www.siliconjungle.co.uk/my_town.htm> > " I aim to try an make the photography as good as i > can manage - less > of the point n click of the watch and SiPix, and > more of the faffy > settings and lighting to consider!. " This is again the extra attention to detail referred to earlier. > <http://www.reviewcentre.com/review27542.html> > " I bought my mum a sagem last christmas and neither > her or I have yet > worked out many of it's faffy features. " I think this is being derogatory towards the Sagem, implying that its features are somewhat a waste of time, not worth the effort. > Several examples suggest the " decorative/flowery " > sense is extended > to a certain kind of visual appearance or mannerism: > > <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=faffy> > " Something or someone that is flowery, girly or gay. > 1. You're faffy. > 2. This salad is pretty faffy. " > [note this site purports to be an " urban slang > dictionary " .] I've not heard of its use in the first example, to be honest. As for No. 2, if it's used in the same sense as no.1, then ditto, however, I find salads to be faffy in the wasted time sense! <http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/home_living/changing_rooms/crseries12 > b/changing_rooms_s12b_episode16.jsp> > " ' bedroom is the attic of the house he owns > with Jack. He > doesn't want anything faffy and he hates MDF. Jack wants something basic, clean lines. I would interpret faffy here to be frilly, decorative as you suggest. however, by the same token, it is implied that decorative would be wasted attention to detail. > <http://www.srcf.ucam.org/cumc/novice/wintergear.php> > " As for trousers, whether you go for actual trousers > or for > salopettes is largely personal preference. > Salopettes extend further > up your back and protect from icy drafts, but > they're faffy This is definitely time spent on extra detail again, not decorative. It's saying that dressing in salopettes requires more time than trousers. and if > you can only afford one pair of waterproofs you'll > look a right knob > walking the dog in them! " Back to knob shots again? ;-) > > This one is one of the more problematic examples, > but could be > interpreted in the sense of " using time > unproductively " . It refers > to a sporting event. > > <http://www.benandelaine.co.uk/2003_09_01_archive.html> > " 2-0 - fair enough - decent second half. Off to > Istanbul we go. Yeah, > but apart from the goals it was a bit faffy towards > the end. " I agree with your interpretation. > <http://www.fmaynard.com/bff/list/9702/bffdig.188.html> > " Also Marky Mark Piper said something about just > being able to faff > about > and not just faff. well i, right now am faffing > around. not faffing > about. so therefore you can faff around too. To the best of my knowledge, there is no difference between faffing around and faffing about. Also > one can be faffy, > like > my brother. he likes boyzone (ha!) and robert miles > (no s***!) and he > calls ben Folds five Ben Fudges five year olds (how > witty). > therefore he > is faffy. or he is a faff. I've not heard it used in this sense. > > <http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/have_your_say/clubs.shtml> > " Also, what's this word faffy mean? Been told, I > don't want to go to > a faffy club. Much thanx. " > > This one is unclear. It hints at a deeper core > meaning to the " gay " > sense that might unify it with the " flowery " sense. > Inconclusive. > I agree, very vague. > <http://www.noor.com/submusic3.asp?user=> > " Sting's music is anything but faffy. The words he > uses may be your > average English ones but the way they're strung > together is of a > completely different and higher plane - something > which the vast > majority of the record buying public won't get nor > appreciate > unfortunately. " Hmm, difficult one to interpret. If i were to pick music to describe as faffy, I would pick h Carey (apologies to fans), as she does lots of unnecessary warbling which adds no depth or feeling to the music. ie I would apply my " unproductive/waste of time " explanation to music. I can understand Sting's words being unfaffy - ie he uses basic english. I believe the phrase then goes on to suggest that what he achieves in the way they are strung together is neither unproductive nor a waste of time, despite the complexity. The attention to detail enhances the content. Jo ___________________________________________________________ BT Broadband - Free modem offer, sign up online today and save £80 http://bt..co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 >Jo, >I had never seen the word " faffy " before your post, and I take it to >be unique to British dialects of English. Being fascinated by >language and unclear as to this word's meaning, as many other >American readers here doubtless are too, perhaps you could clarify it >for me. I searched the web a bit to get a feeling for it, but I >wound up finding a variety of usages that don't cohere together in my >mind, so either there are multiple meanings or it's very abstract. >I see it's also commonly used as a name. My best hypothesis is that >the core meaning is something like " extra detail " , as >in " decorative/flowery/appurtenant/embellishing/baroque " >or " complicated/fussy/bothersome/a hassle/a nuisance/requiring too >much effort " and I can see both of these divergent senses stemming >from a single vague concept. I'm guessing your meaning was along >the second sense, and I found these other food examples that could be >interpreted the same way:... >[40 paras later]..... wow...mike, this post was faffy to read. (second meaning) Suze Fisher Lapdog Design, Inc. Web Design & Development http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine http://www.westonaprice.org ---------------------------- “The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” -- Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher. The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics <http://www.thincs.org> ---------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 > wow...mike, this post was faffy to read. (second meaning) > Suze Fisher it was even faffier to write... but i can't help myself because i'm a linguist... and there's nothing like the feeling of thorough data... Mike SE Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 > >it was even faffier to write... >but i can't help myself because i'm a linguist... >and there's nothing like the feeling of thorough data... > i know mr. language guy. u r forgiven for faffy OT linguistic meanderings. and for eating insects. (even ones with imbalanced faffy acid profiles) <weg> Suze Fisher Lapdog Design, Inc. Web Design & Development http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine http://www.westonaprice.org ---------------------------- “The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” -- Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher. The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics <http://www.thincs.org> ---------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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