berk en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /bɝk/ (General-American)
- (Australia) audio
- /bɜː(ɹ)k/ (UK)
Etymology
Cockney rhyming slang, an ellipsis and clipping of Berkeley Hunt, a prominent hunt at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, to mean cunt.
Meanings
-
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang, vulgar) a fool, a prat, a twit, etc.
His chat-up techniques have to be read to be imagined—they make the crudest of Loaded-style berks seem classy—and he earns far, far too much money.
2003 July 12, Nicholas Lezard, “Ad execs quoting Gramsci? Only in France”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:However, it appears as if the berk who built the box ran out of wood and has left the end wall off.
1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 119:I don't know why they couldn't just keep it as it was! How hard is it to remember 911? You mean 999... I mean 999! That's the American one! Yeah! You berk.
2006 February 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, season 1, episode 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| berks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |