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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   2749 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 4, 2022

Be advised; this thread is not for serious in depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Is "wanker" different in any meaningful way from "douchebag"?

I am not a fluent AmE speaker, but my understanding is that "douchebag" refers to a generally obnoxious person with a side order of toxic masculinity, whereas "wanker" refers to a generally obnoxious person with a side order of pretentious self-centredness. I would say that Elon Musk is a wanker but not a douchebag, and that Donald Trump is a douchebag but not much of a wanker.

I am a fluent AmE speaker, and would say that "douchebag" is also an obnoxious person who is kind of pretentious and/or self-centered. It doesn't really connote toxic masculinity, imo.

Maybe "prick" is the AmE equivalent?

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