preggers

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:55 AM -0400 8/11/09, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 10:47 AM, George Thompson <george.thompson at nyu.edu>
>wrote:
>>
>>  This is perhaps an example of what is called, I think, the "Oxford 'er' -- a
>>  practice among Oxford students of forming words by truncating a
>>standard word
>>  and adding 'er' -- "brekkers" (breakfast)?  I have only dim memories of
>reading
>>  a discussion of this, by an author who who took the practice as
>>representative
>>  of English slang, compared its inanity with the vigor of American slang, and
>>  decided that we need look no further for the reason why the sun set upon the
>>  British Empire.
>
>More here, with many examples:
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_%22-er%22
>
But these Oxonian -ers, like the names mentioned by others
(Craiggers, Meggers, Douggers)*, are nouns.  The real contenders have
to work as adjectives, the way "preggers" and "bonkers" do.   I think
these might work (all googled examples, but not in profusion):

I almost got kicked out by security for making the crowd go too
nutsers with the camera.

the select button went wankers
the North Koreans went wankers

It worked perfectly the first time I tried it before installing on
the remote computer when it went wackers
Somebody e-mail or call or write or sumpin' afore I go wackers, ya hear?

LH



*And Eggers, as in Dave; obviously he started out as Dave Egg.

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