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Poofier vs Poofter - What's the difference?

poofier | poofter |

As an adjective poofier

is (poofy).

As a noun poofter is

(uk|australia|new zealand|south africa|pejorative|slang) a male homosexual, especially an effeminate one; a pansy.

poofier

English

Adjective

(head)
  • (poofy)

    • poofy

    English

    Etymology 1

    Probably a blend of poof'' and ''puffy.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (slang) Of or pertaining to something that is puffy, filled with air, inflated.
  • Something that can make a poofing sound.

    • Etymology 2

    poof'' + ''-y

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (derogatory, slang) Pertaining to, or describing homosexual behaviour or culture

    • See also

    * foofy English blends

    poofter

    English

    Alternative forms

    * poofta * pooftah

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, pejorative, slang) A male homosexual, especially an effeminate one; a pansy.
  • * 1943 , John Bostock and Evan Jones, The nervous soldier: a handbook for the prevention, detection and treatment of nervous invalidity in war , page 11,
    • Hallucinations, again, are the expression of repressed systems of ideas and desires; for example a man who has strong repressed homo-sexual tendencies may hear voices calling him a poofter .
  • * 1964 , Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice , page 36,
    • "You pommy poofter'. You give me any more of that liberal crap and I'll have your balls for a bow tie." Bond said mildly, "What's a ' poofter ?" "What you'd call a pansy. No," Dikko Henderson got to his feet and fired a string of what sounded like lucid Japanese at the man behind the bar,.
  • * 2007 , John Mendoza, Mad Blue Smoke , Pasini Press, Melbourne, Australia, page 113,
    • I just ignored them because I didn't think what I did made me a poofter'. Me and Dwayne were best friends, and it was only because there were no girls around, and I liked it. My father taught me that homosexuality was unnatural, and that ' poofters were men who couldn't form relationships with women because they were horrifying, repulsive queers.

    Usage notes

    Poofter'' is nowadays one of the most highly pejorative words in Australian English, perhaps reflected in or by association with its use in the compound ''poofter-bashing , which arose during the 1960s and 1970s in the context of a sharp increase in organised homophobic hate crimes across Australia and particularly in the Sydney district of King's Cross, a major centre of Sydney's gay social life. Beyond its use as a homophobic slur, it is also often aimed at males who do not conform to stereotypical ideals of masculinity in other ways, particularly in the fields of art or academia.

    Related terms

    * poof

    Anagrams

    *

    References

    Francoeur, R. T., and Noonan, R. J. (eds.) The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, p.33. Continuum: New York.