Chuffed

[Paul Frank]

In contemporary British English chuffed always means "pleased" not "morose."

Paul

Paul Frank
Translator
German, French, Italian > English
Rue du Midi 1, Aigle, Switzerland
paulfrank at post.harvard.edu



On Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 7:13 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Chuffed
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Â From a live webcast of the England-Slovenia, I was attracted by one
> comment:
>
>> Joe Cole gets a roar as he comes on but it is Rooney who is making
>> way. He doesn't look chuffed.
>
> Checking OED, there are two verbs "chuff", neither appropriate, but also
> an entry for "chuffed":
>
>> slang (orig. Mil.).
>>
>> a. Pleased, satisfied. b. Displeased, disgruntled.
>> a. 1957 P. WILDEBLOOD Main Chance ix. 163 Aren't you pleased? There's
>> not many kids of your age what owns a factory. You ought to be dead
>> chuffed about it. 1960 A. WAUGH Foxglove Saga xii. 218 He was chuffed
>> at this new monumental skive he had discovered. 1961 S. PRICE Just for
>> Record iv. 29 My beard is black, all-black. That makes me pretty
>> chuffed. 1967 Crescendo May 6 (Advt.), I cannot express too much just
>> how ‘chuffed’ I am with the drums.
>> b. 1960 D. STOREY This Sporting Life I. ii. 59, I felt pretty chuffed
>> with myself. 1964 C. DALE Other People viii. 158 Don't let on they're
>> after you, see, or she'll be dead chuffed, see? She don' like the law.
>
> The trouble is, of course, that it's impossible to tell from the context
> whether (a) or (b) is implied by the commentator, or even if the meaning
> matches one of these at all. To add to the confusion,
>
>> chuff, a.1
>> Obs. exc. dial.
>>
>> 1. Swollen or puffed out with fat; chubby.
>> 1609 HOLLAND Amm. Marcell. XXXI. ii. 399 By reason of their fat
>> chuffe-necks they are monstrously deformed. 1688 R. HOLME Armoury II.
>> 427/1 Chuffe, or puff Cheeks, or blob Cheeks [are] great and swelling
>> out. 1821 CLARE Vill. Minstr. II. 27 His chuff cheeks dimpling in a
>> fondling smile. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. (E.D.S.) 1887 Kentish Gloss.
>> (E.D.S.) Chuff, fat, chubby.
>>
>> 2. Pleased, satisfied, happy. dial.
>> c1860 in Northampton Dial., I saw the old man and he looked as chuff
>> as ever, although he is between 80 and 90. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss.
>> (E.D.S.) Chuff, expressive of a state of hilarious satisfaction,
>> whether outwardly exhibited or not..‘As chuff as a cheese’, ‘As chuff
>> as an apple’. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss. (E.D.S.) Chuff, pleased,
>> delighted, proud, conceited. ‘The children's quite chuff to come.’
>> 1888 Sheffield Gloss. (E.D.S.) Chuff, proud, pleased. ‘Thar rare an'
>> chuff o' that dog o' thoine.’
>
> and,
>
>> chuff, a.2
>> Obs. exc. dial.
>>
>> Surly, churlish; gruff, stern, morose.
>> 1832 G. DOWNES Lett. Cont. Countries I. 289 Like a British
>> sea-captain, rough, chuff, and headstrong,{em}but withal fair and
>> honourable. a1859 L. HUNT Robin Hood Poet. Wks. (1860) 149 Pure
>> venison and good ale or wine, Except when luck was chuff. 1864 E.
>> CAPERN Devon Provinc., Chuff, churlish, surly. 1880 W. Cornwall
>> Gloss., Chuff, sullen, sulky. 1887 Kentish Dial., Choff, stern,
>> morose. 1888 ELWORTHY W. Somerset Wordbk., Chuff, surly in manner,
>> boorish, brusque, stiff and unbending.
>
> So Rooney might have been "gruntled" or disgruntled and the commentator
> is negating the opposite, whichever it is.
>
> A bit further in the "live" commentary it does become more clear:
>
>> No tantrum from Rooney though and he was limping earlier. Cole will
>> play off Defoe.
>
> So the meaning was that Rooney did not look annoyed. Glad it was cleared
> up ;-)
>
> VS-)
>
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