Learn English – Why are you a plonker

british-englishcolloquialismsidiomsslang

The idiom, plonk (something/someone) down means

  • to slap something down; to plop something down
  • to sit or lie down on something in a careless or noisy way
  • to leave someone somewhere to do this; Dave plonked the kids in front of the TV and disappeared upstairs.
  • to put something down heavily and without taking care:
    Just plonk the shopping (down) on the table, and come and have a cup of tea.
    Come in and plonk yourselves (down) (= sit down) anywhere you like.

From these various definitions I can surmise why cheap wine is often called plonk, it's the sound of the bottle slapping down heavily on the table.

But how did we get from that to “a plonker” which basically means a silly or stupid person.

As in

"Why did you do that, you plonker?"

Rodney from Fools and Horses
Nicholas Lyndhurst who played Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses

References: FD; plonker "Sir David Jason says an American remake of Only Fools And Horses won't work as there's no word over there for plonker." CDO; plonk

Best Answer

The Urban Dictionary suggests plonker is a person habitually drunk on cheap wine , (plonk) and hence someone who is foolish or useless.

I don't think that's right. I believe plonker in this context is a slang term for penis (chiefly used in the term pull someone's plonker, attempt a mild deception). Slang terms for penis are routinely used as terms of abuse, and that is why plonker is used for this purpose.

Edit I've just had a chance to look in Green's Dictionary of Slang. He has three entries for plonker:-

Anything large or substantial (figurative usage of standard English plonk, to hit or strike with a plonking noise). Earliest reference 1861.

Also plonk, the penis, earliest reference c1920 in the phrase pull one's plonker

Also plonk, a general term of abuse, widely popularized by the BBC TV Series Only Fools and Horses, earliest reference 1959.

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