From: b.scott@csuohio.edu   
      
   On Wed, 03 Sep 2014 06:18:49 -0700, David Harmon   
    wrote in   
    in   
   rec.arts.sf.composition:   
      
   > On Tue, 02 Sep 2014 03:11:42 +0100 in   
   > rec.arts.sf.composition, Jacey Bedford   
   >  wrote,   
      
   >> My (American) editor didn't think boffin was an American   
   >> word and asked me to change it. Oh dear.   
      
   > It is definitely not an American word.  I see it only in   
   > British tabloid journalism headlines.  I take it as yet   
   > another British way of calling me nigger.   
      
   Not even close.  It’s a primarily British term for a   
   scientist or engineer engaged in technical.  It was   
   affectionately employed in World War II to the people   
   working on new military technology, especially radar.  It   
   still retains a more positive connotation than ‘egghead’,   
   which in any case has a broader meaning, since it includes   
   philosophers and other non-technical types.  ‘Geek’ and   
   especially ‘nerd’ have also traditionally had more negative   
   connotations and broader applicability.   
      
   While it is not an American term in common use, it’s a term   
   that I’d expect reasonably well-read Americans to have   
   encountered.   
      
   Brian   
   --   
   It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their   
   holes to root for sandtatties.  The waves whispered   
   rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,   
   haggisss.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)