English Language Insights 51, Slang: “a bubble butt, a buck 2.98, a Buckley, a buffoon’s buffoon.” Definitions, Sources, Etymologies.
Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI
US Certified Court Interpreter 1980 / Ph.D. Spanish Portuguese 1981 / 24 years university professor / Estimates: 12,000+ depositions, hearings, etc. / 850 trials / 3000 documents / Conference Interpreter 650 conferences
English Language Insights 51, Slang: “a bubble butt, a buck 2.98, a Buckley, a buffoon’s buffoon.” Definitions, Sources, Etymologies.
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After each author submits his or her opinion on the meaning of these different terms or phrases in English slang, readers can react be agreeing or disagreeing. To be included in this list, at least 10 different agreements or disagreements must be made and at least 75% of the answers must agree with the definitions submitted by the author.
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Following are four slang terms in the Urban Dictionary that meet the criteria and thus they are here.
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a bubble butt
Definition
Butts that are round as a globe, usually tight and firm, complementing a slender body. Often misunderstood to be big butts.
Source
gravisan on January 3, 2006 in Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20bubble%20butt
Etymology
From its original use in the 1940’s to the present, there has been a semantic shift in its meaning from a tight, firm butt to also include a bigger than average sized butt.
“The specific term?bubble?butt, though,?doesn’t appear until the 1940s, first appearing as a nickname for an American solider,?Bubble Butt Nelson. The term took off in the 1960–70s, though,?when more athletic bottoms began to gain traction on key celebrity figures like Raquel Welch and Grace Jones.
The love of the?bubble butt?remains strong, and it has shifted in the 2000s to fuller-figured asses. Superstars such as Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj have brought their?bubble butts?to the forefront of their careers, with Kardashian even breaking the internet in 2014 with her legendary asset.
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a buck 2.98
Definition
How much anything costs in slang used in the city of Pittsburgh.
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Source
xert512 on July 6, 2011 in Uban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%20buck%202.98
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Etymology
I was unable to find an additional source or origin of this phrase that apparently is used in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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a Buckley
Definition
A legend of any caliber. The star of the show, in every sense.
Source
Administrator101 on February 6, 2010 in Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20Buckley
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Etymology
Used in Australia and New Zealand, it means somebody has pulled off the impossible. Look at the following:
Buckley’s chance
Example sentence:?‘Nigel’s got a Buckley’s chance at winning this year’s show.’
A very specific slang phrase used in Australian and New Zealand, if you were to describe someone as having a Buckley’s chance at something, you’re actually saying they have no chance, or a very slim chance. But where on earth does it come from?
There are a few theories to the etymology of this unusual phrase. The first is that it alludes to a 19th-century convict, William Buckley, who escaped prison and went to live among Indigenous Australians, at a time when people believed it was impossible for non-indigenous people to survive in the bush. It’s said it could also have come from a Mr Buckley who unsuccessfully sued the government, or a dispute between another Mr Buckley and the crisis-hit Bank of Australasia, after he withdrew his savings and told them they would have no chance of using his money to pay debtors.
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a buffoon’s buffoon
Definition
worst of the worst
Source
axcident on March 15, 2017 in Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20Buffoon%27s%20Buffoon
Etymology
A “buffoon” has been used in the English language since 1584 in the sense of a ludicrous figure or a clown. It comes into English via Middle French “bouffon,” from Old Italian?“buffone.”
So, obviously, if you are a ludicrous figure of a clown for another ludicrous figure or a clown, you are the wort of the wors.
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Sources
gravisan on January 3, 2006 in Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20bubble%20butt
xert512 on July 6, 2011 in Uban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%20buck%202.98
Administrator101 on February 6, 2010 in Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20Buckley
axcident on March 15, 2017 in Urban Dictionary: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A%20Buffoon%27s%20Buffoon
“Buffoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buffoon. Accessed 8 Jun. 2024.
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