Naff

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:49 AM -0500 1/24/01, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>>>...Naff ...
>
>>Looks to me like another candidate for the pseudo-acronym files. ...
>
>Partridge (8th ed.) gives several lines to this word. It is given as
>distinct from another "naff" [= (1) female privates, (2) nothing, (3)
>euphemism as in "Naff off!" etc.].
>
>The adjective "naff" = "tacky"/"vulgar" supposedly comes from theatrical
>slang, from the 1960's according to a Paul Beale correspondent. This
>apparently was attached to the backronym by the 1980's.
>
>Thorne says "naff" dates from the 1930's, but I think he's combining what
>are separate entries in Partridge (the early use given as prostitutes'
>slang for "nothing" [this one has an acronym/backronym too, something like
>"not a f*cking fart"]).
>
>The origins appear to be obscure. It's not clear whether the different
>words "naff" are related.
>
I *love* "backronym".  Is that an established label for these (we've
discussed dozens on this list over the last few years) or your
coinage, Doug?

By the way, John Wells notes the Collins entry (Millennium edition, 1998)--

==========
*naff* (næf) _adj_ _Brit. slang_ inferior; in poor taste. [C19: perhaps
back slang for _fan_, short for FANNY] > *'naffness*
*naff off* _sentence substitute._ _Brit. slang._ a forceful expression of
dismissal or contempt.
===========
--so maybe my wager that the Farmer & Henley item "naf" (back-slang
from "fan(ny)", with the usual British as opposed to U.S.
geographical value) 'female pudendum' was ill-advised.  Maybe not,
though, if Partridge is right in finding these two "naff"s distinct.

larry