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"pongy"

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February 15, 2007, 07:37
shufitz
"pongy"
I ran across the word pongy, which is apparently a Briticism. Among one-look dictionaries, it's mentioned only in the ever-reliable Wikipedia.

Can any of you east-ponders comment on the meaning and prevalence?
February 15, 2007, 08:18
BobHale
Well pong is smell and is used as a noun or a verb.

There's a right pong in here.

That pongs a bit.

Pongy, the adjectival form, is less common but is nevertheless still quite widely used in certain parts of the country.

Cor, that's a bit pongy.

Is that the meaning you gleaned from wikipedia?


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
February 15, 2007, 18:53
tinman
I've never heard the word before, but I like it. From the OED Online:
quote:
pongy, adj.

Having a strong, usually unpleasant smell; stinky, smelly.

1936 ‘TAFFRAIL’ Myst. Milford Haven xi. 153 ‘Kippers!’ she groaned. ‘They are a bit pongy sometimes,’ Victor had to confess. 1965 G. MCINNES Road to Gundagai xii. 215 Dad..kept turning up..with loot from the Prahran market: strings of saveloys and frankfurters, pongy cheeses,..and huge Portuguese sardines. 2002 Times 22 Aug. II. 7/4 An 8ft cell replete with pongy latrine and even pongier cellmate.


Tinman
February 15, 2007, 19:24
Caterwauller
I love it! I'll have to find a use for it tomorrow.

As far as I knew, Pong was simply the first TV video game. Did anyone else have one of those Pong sets? We used to play for hours. My parents have a picture of my sister and I, with bad "shag" haircuts, slack-jawed, staring at the television with the pong controls in our hands. LOL


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
March 09, 2007, 04:19
Caterwauller
I wanted to use this word the other day and suddenly realized I'm not sure how to pronounce it. Is it a soft g like a j, or a hard g like at the end of pig?


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
March 09, 2007, 04:29
arnie
It's a hard g as in piggy or singer.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
March 09, 2007, 12:48
stella
Pong and pongy are common slang terms in NZ/Oz -always with a soft 'ng' sound.

I have an English friend who pronounces the g in lots of words that we don't. She almost says son-ga.