Twerk vs Werk - What's the difference?
twerk | werk |
(slang, dated, US) A puny or insignificant person, generally male; a twerp.
*1930 , , The Big Barn , page 207:
*:"'...but when they load a pack onto you, what'll you do? A little twerk like you?'"
*1932 , Forum and Century vol. 87 [http://books.google.com/books?ei=fz75RqyPOoWcpgKW19m0Dw]:
*:"But even then the poor twerk' s whiskers and little eyes looked kind of wistful as if the clothes had got him and was taking him somewhere..."
*2003 , Bernard Kamoroff, Small Time Operator [http://books.google.com/books?id=9qlizjnOrVcC], ISBN 0917510186, page 19,
*:You don't need those twerks who walk in off the street.
A fitful movement similar to a twitch or jerk.
*1898 , William Brigham, "Director's Report" in Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Museum vol. 1 no. 1, page 42:
*:"Not so the Freycineti, who looked me over critically, elevated his head crest, and giving his tail an odd little twerk , proceeded to hop deliberately up the limb like a sap-sucker..."
*1920 , Lilian C. McNamara Garis, The Girl Scouts at Sea Crest: Or, The Wig Wag Rescue [http://books.google.com/books?id=ulYCAAAAYAAJ], page 86,
*:"I hardly realize it yet that you are my really truly coz," and she gave the girl's long, brown braids a familiar twerk .
*1950 , Robert S. Close, Love Me Sailor [http://books.google.com/books?id=ySdBAAAAIAAJ], page 86,
*:With a quick twerk at her shift, the girl lifted it to her rounded belly, and squatted nakedly on his lap.
To twitch or jerk.
*1985 , Criena Rohan, Down by the Docks [http://books.google.com/books?id=ausNAAAAIAAJ], page 151,
*: in the language of the unsophisticated Port Melbourne suburbanite a bed was still something primarily intended for love-making – all the eyebrow-raising and moustache-twerking in Jo'burg couldn't alter that.
*2005 , Florence Hall Abssi, The Call [http://books.google.com/books?id=OyAkYG9lwD4C], page 613:
*:"He twerked an eyebrow at his wife."
To move the body in a sexually suggestive twisting or gyrating fashion.
*2005 , Euftis Emery, Off the Chain [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ib1vEpY4TpwC], ISBN 1411630475, page 73,
*2006 , Lawrence Christopher, Ghettoway Weekend [http://books.google.com/books?id=gOPfQEdpxkwC], ISBN 0971227845, page 96,
*:"Shortie'' really knows how to ''twerk it don't she?" Marcus boasted, while still recording.
* 2006 , :
To dance in a sexually suggestive manner, often involving rapid movement.
*2013', Nichole Smith, ABC News, ''High School Students Suspended for '''''Twerking'' [http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/05/high-school-students-suspended-for-twerking/]
An abrupt call, such as made by the California Quail.
*{{quote-book, year=1961, author=Roger Tory Peterson, title=A Field Guide to Western Birds
passage=Note of male on territory, a loud kurr or twerk .}}
As nouns the difference between twerk and werk
is that twerk is a puny or insignificant person, generally male; a twerp while werk is obsolete form of lang=en.As a verb twerk
is to twitch or jerk.twerk
English
Etymology 1
.Noun
(en noun)Usage notes
Found primarily in the 1930s-era works of .Etymology 2
(Twerking) .Noun
(en noun)Verb
(en verb)- Gaea then stood up over me and turned so that her butt was facing me. She then had the nerve to start twerking .
- Let me see what ya twerkin with
- Twerking, as it is known in the hip-hop community, is a hard-hitting, rump-shaking dance move that celebrities including Beyonce and Miley Cyrus have been known to bust out, but it has also gotten a group of San Diego high school students suspended.
Usage notes
In “sexually suggestive movements, especially dance”, particularly popularized since c. 2000 by US hip-hop.Derived terms
* twerkerEtymology 3
Onomatopoeia, possibly coined by .Noun
(en noun)citation