A question RE: British Slang...

[NickM]

I was reading one of my favorite WW2 novels recently & came across an expression: "Pukka Gen"...now I think I that "gen" means something like 'information' or 'intelligence', but what does the expression "Pukka" mean? I must also say that I had seen this expression used in 'Spitfires over Sicily'; there was a passage referring to an enemy radio operatior heckling a Spit patrol with a 'pukka accent';
So...What's it all mean?

thanks!

[Jon]

Hi.
I am from Gloucester in England and we still sometimes use the expression Pukka. It means when we use it ..something that is perfect or spot on, or exactly what you wanted.
So Pukka Gen would mean : Perfect information.

Hope this helps

Pukka site by the way!

Jon

[Andy Fletcher]

Hi Nick,

Jon's definition is good.

The term "pukka gen" was quite widespread 14 years ago when I was in the RAF and still is now amongst many of my colleagues in the aviation industry, not really in wide use in civvy street.

Only a minor difference really, but I would difine it as "accurate information".

Andy Fletcher

[paul peters]

When you go to http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/...orce/raf/slang
you find pukka gen accurate information.
Regards,
paul peters

[paul peters]

Sorry,typo, it must be raf.slang instead of raf/slang. Success,
paul

[Ruy Horta]

Isn't Pukka a word from India?

[k-pp]

Yes - it means 'ripe' in Hindi.

It also has very popular usage in London and with a certain TV chef called Jamie Oliver...

[Allan125]

yes Ruy - like so many terms in use in the UK it originated in India because of the large amount of UK forces posted there over the centuries. In a similar fashion, Doolally is old English slang for someone that has gone mad … coming from the days of the Raj when India was a British colony and many Brits who cracked up under the stresses and strains of life in India, were packed off to one of the many psychiatric hospitals in a town there called Deolali (pronounced by the Tommies as Doolally). Back in England the name became linked with madness and from that the phrase of 'going doolally' meant to become insane!!! Rather like in WW1 the Tommies couldn't get their tongues around Belgian towns etc. and used to call Ypres - Wipers, and Ploegsteert became Plugstreet. cheers - Allan

[Ruy Horta]

Thanks Allan,

I've enjoyed reading a number of Kippling's short stories, encountering many interesting words and ways of spelling them.

One poem I enjoy every time I read it:

Fuzzy-Wuzzy

WE’VE fought with many men acrost the seas,
An’ some of ’em was brave an’ some was not:
The Paythan an’ the Zulu an’ Burmese;
But the Fuzzy was the finest o’ the lot.
We never got a ha’porth’s change of ’im:
’E squatted in the scrub an’ ’ocked our ’orses,
’E cut our sentries up at Suakim,
An’ ’e played the cat an’ banjo with our forces.
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ’ome in the Soudan;
You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fightin’ man;
We gives you your certificate, an’ if you want it signed
We’ll come an’ ’ave a romp with you whenever you’re inclined.
We took our chanst among the Khyber ’ills,
The Boers knocked us silly at a mile,
The Burman give us Irriwaddy chills,
An’ a Zulu impi dished us up in style:
But all we ever got from such as they
Was pop to what the Fuzzy made us swaller;
We ’eld our bloomin’ own, the papers say,
But man for man the Fuzzy knocked us ’oller.
Then ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an’ the missis and the kid;
Our orders was to break you, an’ of course we went an’ did.
We sloshed you with Martinis, an’ it wasn’t ’ardly fair;
But for all the odds agin’ you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square.

’E ’asn’t got no papers of ’is own,
’E ’asn’t got no medals nor rewards,
So we must certify the skill ’e’s shown
In usin’ of ’is long two-’anded swords:
When ’e’s ’oppin’ in an’ out among the bush
With ’is coffin-’eaded shield an’ shovel-spear,
An ’appy day with Fuzzy on the rush
Will last an ’ealthy Tommy for a year.
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an’ your friends which are no more,
If we ’adn’t lost some messmates we would ’elp you to deplore;
But give an’ take’s the gospel, an’ we’ll call the bargain fair,
For if you ’ave lost more than us, you crumpled up the square!

’E rushes at the smoke when we let drive,
An’, before we know, ’e’s ’ackin’ at our ’ead;
’E’s all ’ot sand an’ ginger when alive,
An’ ’e’s generally shammin’ when ’e’s dead.
’E’s a daisy, ’e’s a ducky, ’e’s a lamb!
’E’s a injia-rubber idiot on the spree,
’E’s the on’y thing that doesn’t give a damn
For a Regiment o’ British Infantree!
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ’ome in the Soudan;
You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fightin’ man;
An’ ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your ’ayrick ’ead of ’air—
You big black boundin’ beggar—for you broke a British square!

[k-pp]

Here's a list of Indian words, some of which are in popular British usage:

http://www.geocities.com/faskew/Colo...sary/India.htm