Hi,
What do you think of the expression ‘dozy bint’ to describe a stupid person?[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, question-response: Why is Martha leaving work early?[YSaerTTEW443543]
Hi Torsten,
‘Dozy’ is fairly innocuous suggesting not fully aware. Often it’s used against oneself as in: I know I’m being dozy but I don’t really understand. ‘Bint’ to my knowledge is usually used to describe a woman and is quite disparaging and dismissive.
Alan
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This is another of those purely BrE phrases. Neither ‘dozy’ or ‘bint’ are used in AmE.
Yet in Arabic, bint (بنت) simply means girl or daughter. I think it’s also used as a patronymic ‘daughter of’.
Odd how it takes such a negative connotation in BrE English. I wonder if there’s any connection to anti-immigrant sentiments, or if there’s another etymological explanation for it?
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I can imagine possibly hearing “dozy” used in AmE as the adjective form of the verb “doze” – i.e. with a meaning similar to “sleepy” or “drowsy”.
I agree with Skrej that the British meaning of “bint” appears to be pretty exclusively British. I’ve never heard that word used that way on this side of the pond.
.
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I believe it is from the slave trade that existed between Britain and Arabia - islamic slave masters would raid Irish, English and Welsh villages for slaves and in return there would be wars - explains why there are fair arabs.
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“The word is Arabic for a daughter, specifically one who has yet to bear a child. It was in common use as a slang term during the first and second World Wars among British and Allied servicemen stationed in Egypt and neighbouring countries.“
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