Keir Starmer raises eyebrows as he proudly declares himself a 'gooner' - AOL
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Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch called Labor MPs a "sea of orcs and goons" back in March. In British English, “gooner” is a variation of “Gunner” and refers to a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
    886·
    1 day ago

    ‘Gooner’ = Arsenal FC fan. We’ve used that term for decades (it started out as a sarcastic variation of ‘gunner’ used by opposition fans, but we adopted it). This stupid new slang meaning for the word can fuck off.

    • MetaStatistical@lemmy.zipEnglish
      10·
      6 hours ago

      This stupid new slang meaning for the word can fuck off.

      Agreed. I’ve been replaying Space Pirates and Zombies, and all of the crew are called goons. Something Awful’s forum posters were called goons. Watch any TV cartoon from even 15-20 years ago, and the villain probably has a workforce of goons.

      I don’t mind repurposing old words, but you got to give it more time to go out of style.

    • binux@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      201·
      17 hours ago

      This stupid new slang meaning for the word can fuck off.

      This is how languages evolve regardless. It doesn’t really matter if you still use ‘gay’ to describe how happy you are, you’re still going to needlessly confuse people by using it like that nowadays.

    • MalReynolds@slrpnk.netEnglish
      33·
      23 hours ago

      Here (AU) goon is a (bad, usually) 4L box wine. Seems like the word has a lot of meanings. I saw a meme with ‘I answered your call mid goon, that’s how much I respect you’ and was like, if I answer you mid goon, I so don’t respect you.

      • dellish@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        20 hours ago

        I once met some German tourists while I was at a hostel in Adelaide. They told me they’d been told Goon Bag was Aboriginal for pillow and I laughed for the rest of the night. And most of the next day.

        • MalReynolds@slrpnk.netEnglish
          2·
          20 hours ago

          For certain values of sexy, goon goggles may apply. Very likely children out there as a result. Remember the game where you spin a hills hoist with a goon attached?

      • arctanthrope@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        1 day ago

        a couple years ago basically this exact same story happened with Anne Hathaway. there was an interview in a British publication where she mentioned she was an arsenal fan and it was published with the headline “Anne Hathaway reveals she’s a secret gooner” which was received differently by audiences who are not familiar with British sports teams