h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Pheroneous - such an authoritive explanation but (considering recent postings) is it true ? I guess it sounds sufficiently unlikely to be true, but that does mean this is a very/relatively recent word.

And, yes, I was watching WWTBAM - its fun and interesting. It occasionaly comes up which questions I don't know the answer to. Ouch ! (bangs head on door frame leaving room)

Total balderdash.

In recompense, it will be my mission to come up with a correct, or if not correct, than at least plausible, explanation.

Pheroneous - now you'll have to research balderdash too !

Pheroneous - you might like to consider the following
Balder was the son of Odin and Frigg , the twin brother of Hod, who killed him
dash was the Victorian/Edwardian euphemism for damn
A mixture of what remained in all the spirit bottles (whisky,rum,brandy) was known in the Indian army as balderdash
(I can't find the reference as I read both Kipling and Saki, possible sources, many years ago, but it's one of those odd bits of knowledge that clog up the synapses)

Akimbo comes from the Middle English "in kenebowe". It used to be used for legs as well as arms, so I assume this means "with bowed knee".

There is definitely a need for a mouth agape in astonishment smiley!

When I was young the verb "to bonk" could be used to mean hit or collide.Thus the following were possible
"The cars bonked at the crossroads" " I bonked my leg very badly on that rock" I suggest that someone who was continually bonked on the head went bonkers.
If bonk meant bang, it could be used as "have/force sexual intercourse on". It doesn't seem possible for a woman to be the bonker. She is always the bonkee (and it probably drives her bonkers)
"Dork" used to mean penis (possibly Yiddish??) and was then used as a variation for "dickhead". In any case it was definitely US English first, so we don't have to worry about that one!
Next?
Taking off her know-it-all hat for a much-deserved rest.

is another word meaning bonkers. Comes from the name of a mental hospital in India. Any offers for "batty" or "potty"?

Doodle alley tat, in full.

Gnomon is absolutely right in his explanation.(Is the guy ever wrong?) My ref says 'in kene bowe' in a sharp curve. It is an odd word insofar as it is not translated directly in any other language, they all use phrases to reach the meaning. Also, in spite of our taking the coquettish meaning of the stance, it is generally taken as defiant. 'Go no further'

PS 'Akimbo' is well used in USA so disqualified.

I feel that bonk, in its sexual sense, was a deliberate invention by the tabloid press to enable them to use fewer letters/syllables than 'sexual intercourse'. I am sure it is an extremely recent usage (and isn't our language so much the richer for it!) I also feel that, in this new century of ours, that the lady may take the upper position, as it were, and actively do the bonking, arms positioned as she wishes, although the attractiveness of the 'akimbo' depends rather upon the build (shall we say) of the protagonist.

How about "widdershins" as a potential British word? It means "anti-clockwise". Is it known outside these islands?

Thinks: legs akimbo (i.e. feet on hips) combined with bonking !!
Enough to send anyone doolally !

And, where is our American in London friend (and Mother of this thread) ? Is she swinging the lead, has she swaned off somewhere, skiving, playing truant (what does a truant sound like when it's played ?)

Wasn't that dealt with above,TC?
And my doolally is tap,not tat,with no doodling sidelines but it's probably another expression that's changed slightly in the last hundred years.

I've heard the word before but didn't know what it meant. Is there a corresponding word for clockwise ?
British English = anti-
US English = counter-

there was and maybe still is a snack food here in the states,it was a mixture of caremal popcorn and peanut brittle i think,had petter max style artwork on the box.yellow submarine blue meany stuff.if you have never known a woman who is a good bonker clockwise and counter clock wise i wish you better luck in the future.

As predicted 'bonking' has preoccupied the contributors to this forum. Well at least we have something in common. If a more concise term than sexual intercourse is required, what is wrong with 'swive'?
One can probably do it akimbo!

Once again,I don't think that women can do it (_grammatically, chaps, grammatically_) As we well know, grammar has very little relevance to life (hence girls are neuter in German , and houses are female in French and the honorific pronoun in Amharic is masculine plural even when the recipient is pregnant female)But if you(plural, masculine feminine and other) think "She bonked" is acceptable, I'll add it to my idiolect.

There is a word deasil meaning the opposite of widdershins, but it is extremely rare.

Technically, widdershins is "going in the opposite direction to the sun". It is used for walking around objects on the ground, and is the way to summon the devil. The thing can be a church set in the middle of the road, a burial mound or a standing stone. You have to go around it three times widdershins. By this definition, widdershins only means anti-clockwise if the clock concerned is facing upwards.

Of course, widdershins would be the wrong way around in Australia and other Southern Hemisphere countries. Has anybody ever summoned the devil in Australia? What's the normal way of doing it?

The regular way of doing *anything* in Australia is probably not normal

bonk is also the sound a clowns nose sometimes makes when being hit with a pie