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
BobHaleWell
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?
February 15, 2007, 18:53
tinmanI'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
CaterwaullerI 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
March 09, 2007, 04:19
CaterwaullerI 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?
March 09, 2007, 04:29
arnieIt's a hard g as in piggy or singer.
March 09, 2007, 12:48
stellaPong 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.