Boffins

[Roman Koropeckyj]

Although I was not privy to the original use of the word in question, aside from
 the dictionary
meanings, one should also not forget Mr. Boffin, "the Golden Dustman" from
 Dickens's "Our
Mutual Friend." Mr. & Mrs. Boffin, to remind, were servants whose former master
 bequethed them
his entire estate. Dickens presents them as simple, honest, good, somewhat
 pathetically comical and
unsophisticated folk under constant threat of being corrupted by their newly
 acquired fortune.

1. The word is not in common usage in American English.  A paraphase of
   Winston Churchill: the Americans and the English, two people separated
   by a common language.  The word reminds me of the word buffoon.

2. You might not be aware of what the Compact Edition of the Oxford
   English Dictionary is.  It is a microphotographed edition of the
   complete Oxford English Dictionary.  After noticing that the word
   in question was spelled with an `i', I was able to locate it in
   the companion `A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary.'

3. The definitions given there are: 1) An elderly naval officer and 2)
   A person engaged in `back-room' scientific or technical research.

   I suppose that those definitions might be partially applied to me.
   Some would consider 49 years of age elderly.  My father served as
   seaman in the South Pacific during WWII.  I have worked in computer
   support at major research laboratories for the last decade and a
   half (AT&T Bell Labs and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory).

Randolph J. Herber, herber at dcdrjh.fnal.gov, +1 708 840 2966, CD/HQ
(Speaking for myself and not for US, US DOE, FNAL nor URA.)
(Product, trade, or service marks herein belong to their respective owners.)

The following header lines retained to affect attribution:
|Date: Tue, 30 May 1995 00:18:01 -0700 (PDT)
|From: James West <jdwest at u.washington.edu>
|To: "Randolph J. Herber" <herber at dcdrjh.fnal.gov>
|Cc: Multiple recipients of list SEELANGS <SEELANGS at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>

|The word 'boffin' has only one meaning in 20th-century English, which is
|defined in the Oxford English Dictionary (forget the Compact Edition -
|compact dictionaries sow more confusion than they shed light):

|   A person engaged in 'back-room' scientific or technical research.
|   The term seems to have been first applied by members of the Royal
|   Air Force to scientists working on radar.

|I served in the RAF long after radar had become commonplace, and the word
|'boffin' equally so. It was applied routinely, with respect and even
|affection, to scientific specialists of all kinds, working on everything
|from computers to flight simulators to navigational aids and weapons
|guidance systems. It was a _great_ deal more respectful than the term
|applied to national-service acting pilot officers like myself (we were
|called "Twelve-Week Wonders"). The boffins as a class were distinguished
|by their smarts, their technical proficiency, their articulacy and their
|sense of humor. But it's a free country, and you certainly have the right
|to disavow your membership.

|On Mon, 29 May 1995, Randolph J. Herber wrote:

|> The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary lists several examples
|> of boff- alternate spellings for buff- words and several for -oo- and -o-
|> alternatives.  The same dictionary gives for buffoon, among other meanings,
|> he following meanings a comic actor, clown, jester, fool ....  Of course,
|> a person might apply such a description to himself or herself.

|> Randolph J. Herber, herber at dcdrjh.fnal.gov, +1 708 840 2966, CD/HQ
|> (Speaking for myself and not for US, US DOE, FNAL nor URA.)
|> (Product, trade, or service marks herein belong to their respective owners.)

|> The following header lines retained to affect attribution:
|> |Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 19:19:39 -0400 (EDT)
|> |From: "Loren A. Billings" <BILLINGS at PUCC.BITNET>
|> |Subject: Re: Czech fonts, etc.

|>         ...

|> |I make no apologies for using the term "boffin"; actually, I met a
|> |Canadian who described himself as such just this past weekend.  The
|> |word does not appear to have any etymological meaning (as is the case with
|> |_hysterical_ at the O.J. Simpson trial) or acquired interpretation that
|> |would imply anything more than reverence for the service that these
|> |people provide at help lines and walk-in rooms all over the world.

|>         ...

|> |--Loren Billings (billings at princeton.edu)

|_________________________________________________________________________
|JAMES WEST|University of Washington DP-32, Seattle, WA 98195|206-543-4892