bugger
part of speech
noun (a bugger, buggers); verb (bugger — rude); exclamation (bugger! — rude)
meaning for a pupil
1) (rude, UK, Australia, Ireland) A swear word said when something goes wrong ("Bugger! I missed the bus"). tree →
2) (rude) An annoying or difficult person or thing ("This lid is a bugger to open"). tree →
3) (informal, UK, Australia, affectionate) A cheeky person, often a child ("You little bugger!"). tree →
4) (rude, UK) "Bugger off" means go away; "bugger all" means nothing; "bugger up" means spoil. tree →
sense in the lessons
Heard in real speech in the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ as mild-to-strong swearing; children should not use it at school. In stories it shows a character is cross or rough-spoken. In Australia it can sound almost friendly. Phrases: bugger off, bugger all, bugger it, silly bugger, lucky bugger.
examples
- "Bugger!" Dad said when he dropped the plate. (rude) tree →
- This jar is a bugger to open. (rude) tree →
- "Bugger off and leave me alone!" the old man shouted. (rude) tree →
- We got bugger all done today. (rude) tree →
- "You cheeky little bugger," Grandad laughed. (affectionate, rude) tree →
- Don't say "bugger" at school; it is a swear word. tree →
- "Lucky bugger won the raffle again," said Uncle Pete. (rude) tree →
note
A swear word: rude, especially in formal places; do not use it with teachers. Milder in Australia and New Zealand than in the UK, and rare and odd-sounding in the USA. Polite replacements: "Oh no!", "bother", "darn". Countable: buggers.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «bugger» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.