Learn English – Etymology of the words “narky” and “narked”

british-englishetymology

Anybody have any idea where the word "narky" comes from?

I speak British English and I understand the word to mean irritated or bad-tempered. Similarly I've heard the phrase "narked off".

Examples

He got really narky with me when I pointed out that he'd made a mistake again.

or

I got really narked off when my little sister lost my favourite necklace.

Best Answer

Narky and narked both come from the verb nark (not from narc, which is unrelated).

Nark means "to cause annoyance" and is derived from the Romany for nose (nāk).