Disparaging Nouns
Words, and meanings, amaze me. More so the ones which are used colloquially — and have different meanings across the continents.
Recently I was sarcastically ridiculing someone. (it was Trump and he deserved it!). This blog post was sparked by a conversation I had with someone about the meaning of a word; we disagreed on its sentiment so we looked it up, and I was quite surprised. I dug deeper into various other words, and it's the same. Depending on where you are, a simple word can mean something completely different.
Americanisms
Let's skip the big talk on Americanisms. I am amazed at how they took the British English language and came up with entirely different meanings for the same word. I guess that's just history and longevity.
Even simple words like biscuit and cookie -- each side of the pond means the entire opposite of the other.
You think someone would have put a dictionary on the Mayflower as it set sail to conquer (pillage) new worlds.
Nouns
I enjoy a nice noun when I am referring to something or someone. The run of the mill stuff is very pedestrian. It's good to be creative, but you need to be word-aware.
I might use the word walloper to refer to someone. I think it is quite common parlance. "He's a walloper" - an unkind reference to his annoying character.
Apparently in some circles (none that I move in!), it means a penis. Now that I think of it, I can see how you might use it in that context, but for me it's an idiot. Apparently in Australia it means Policeman! In Ireland it's a cudgel (short heavy implement, used as a weapon). I guess that one could be phallic ... but Policeman‽
How about Twat. I love this word. Again, derogatory towards someone who is a fool. It can also mean to hit or slap! (new to me). Our cousins down-under seem to think a Twat is a vulgar term for vagina.
Timeout
At this point I stopped thinking too much about words, and looking them up for international meanings.
Knowing that my disparaging nouns could be describing a gentleman's trouser furniture, or a lady's down-stairs paraphernalia, was enough linguistic exploring for me!