Spike calls Dalton a “wanker” in 2.13 Surprise. The BBC wouldn’t allow the use of the word (and it was cut when shown in the UK), but it’s full meaning doesn’t seem to be widely known in the U.S., which is why Joss Whedon was able to get away with it there. The word originally meant someone who masturbates but it became common in British slang as a someone who is detestable.
Related episodes: 2.13 Surprise
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arkan on December 14th, 2005 at 12:57 am
Hmmm… I thought nearly every word was allowed on UK television? I’ve heard worse words on English sitcoms. But I’m fairly sure I’m not allowed to repeat them here ;)
AnyasFloppyEars on December 29th, 2005 at 5:46 pm
I know Joss didn’t hire the guy who replaced Chrisophe Beck just to spite the BBC for cutting out “wanker” in this context, but I did do a sniggering double-take a number of the times during the credits (season 4 onwards), in which the musical score is credited to “Thomas Wanker”. The poor bastard.
Interestingly, when Spike says “sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks - oh God, I’m English” in Tabula Rasa, the BBC didn’t cut that - and since it’s one of the funniest things in the world, I’m so glad they didn’t, but I don’t get how “wanker” is deemed more offensive than “shagging” or “sodding”. The only thing I can think of is that wanker is a term of (self) abuse, whereas the others are just sentence fillers used by Londoners, as in “pass the sodding salt, mush”.
And whilst “wanker” does indeed mean “a detestable person”, it still carries the connotation of “a detestable person who is often to be found having a tug, probably in a public lavatory”, and it is frequently accompanied by the universal hand-gesture of Onanism (see also Buffy in Hush). Seldom are women called wankers, since of course female self-abuse is a beautiful thing all to do with empowerment and flowers and puppies. ;-)
(And yes, post “Deadwood” and “Rome”, every cuss you can think of is allowed as long as it’s after 9pm).
alethiakit on December 30th, 2005 at 2:40 pm
Was the series edited for Australia? I didnt watch it on TV coz I was like, 11 when the show finshed so i own the DVDs which are un-edited, so i was just wondering?
Wanker is a great word. As is ‘bint’ whats that mean?
hannah_wish01 on December 30th, 2005 at 4:19 pm
bint kinda means like a really stupid person, such as a person who has a blonde moment or something of the sort, its usualy dirrected towards females. although i may be wrong does anybody have a better deffinition??
AnyaRocks on December 30th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
A bint is another name for a female, pretty much. Spike’s always calling people a ‘daft bint’.
MissKittyFantastico on December 30th, 2005 at 6:29 pm
Yeah - it’s just another name for a woman I think, I guess usually used to be abusive - e.g. My dad is always calling me a Dizzy Bint (and I’m blonde!!)…
AnyasFloppyEars on December 30th, 2005 at 8:27 pm
‘Bint’ is Arabic for ‘girl’; the Eighth Army imported the phrase back to England during the forties, and wove it into the patois of London. Thus ‘oi, gis a shufti at yer noo bint, yer miserable git’ translates from the London Arabic as ‘I say, let’s see your new girl, you gravid camel.’
AnyaRocks on December 30th, 2005 at 8:29 pm
Wow! You must be really clever. I never knew and I use the word of a semi-regular basis. I guess you really do learn something everyday :D
Smash on December 30th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
That is the funniest thing! I love how you never really think about slang untill you hear it literally translated
hannah_wish01 on December 30th, 2005 at 8:40 pm
lmao at Gravid camel i must use ‘bint’ more often now i know its origin!
AnyasFloppyEars on December 30th, 2005 at 8:49 pm
I’m not clever - but my dad was in the Eighth Army - so it’s all pretty much childhood hearing him swear and then copying him and then being told not to - because it’s WRONG - and suchlike :-)
I’ve had another thought about ‘Wanker’, as well - I doubt the Australian networks pulled (sorry) the word, since Paul Hogan had a comedy series before he did his movie career, and one of his “characters” was a stuntman called Leo Wanker. So now you know.
AnyaRocks on December 30th, 2005 at 8:51 pm
And there was a crew member for Buffy called Thomas Wanker. Can’t remember what he did. I don’t watch the credits anymore.
MagicBone on January 25th, 2006 at 2:38 am
He was the composer.
Jaynesgirl on April 20th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
I don’t remember seeing a Thomas Wanker but I do remember a Brian Wankum being credited on both latter Buffy and on Angel.
The OED lists Wanker as being a “stupid or unpleasant person”
mymostbeautiful on April 16th, 2008 at 7:10 am
It’s also kinda funny that Giles uses the term “berk” at least twice that I can remember, and they didn’t pull that either