User:Mediation4u/DeletedPagesArchive/Plonker

Plonker

Plonker is a slang term of British origin whose meaning has evolved over time. Partridge in the third edition of his A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in 1949 recorded the term as "low" slang for penis, "since ca. 1917". The term remains in recent use with that meaning.

By 1966, the term had also acquired the meaning of a man who let his girlfriend sleep with his male friends,.

By the 1970s the term had a widely used meaning of a stupid or inept person. This meaning gained very wide circulation through its frequent use was in the 1980s sitcom Only Fools and Horses where Del Boy often used a catchphrase "Rodney, you plonker."

Popular culture
In 1952 the book One-Upmanship used the term to describe any person who describes trite and obvious ideas in a pompous and heavy manner. The term was used in the same sense in the 1980s to describe economic debate using obvious truths to ignore opposing views.

In 1960 a London club was named "Plonker".

A policeman successfully sued The People newspaper for libel in 1990 after being called a plonker after raiding a joke shop for an "an indecent display" which included chocolate willies. He was awarded damages of £25,000.