bants
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From banter + -s (“diminutive suffix”); first used in the early 21st century.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]bants (uncountable)
- (UK, slang) Banter, particularly among men.
- 2012 September 22, "Complete Ledge", “TV OD with Complete Ledge: Doomsday Preppers”, in The Guardian[1]:
- Top bants, says Twitter's master 'Target Smasher'
- 2013 September 1, Rebecca Armstrong, “Office noise: put up or shut up”, in The Independent[2]:
- In my office, bants come thick and fast, but when other departments blare out video clips, I can’t help thinking wistfully of a headphones-only zone.
- 2014 March 15, "Thinking Drinkers", “A beginners guide to Irish whiskey”, in The Daily Telegraph[3]:
- It’s St Patrick’s day on Monday so, hey you guys, like, put on a green wig and drink some Guinness, yeah? Yeah. Top bants, you guys.
Usage notes
[edit]- Sometimes considered "boorish" and chauvinistic" or a term used to justify such behavior;[1] compare locker room talk.
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “bants, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2021; “bants, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
