bugger up

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌɡə(ɹ) ʌp/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌɡəɹ ʌp/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bug‧ger up

Verb

bugger up (third-person singular simple present buggers up, present participle buggering up, simple past and past participle buggered up)

1. (British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) To break or spoil something, or make it inoperative, useless etc.

   Synonym: (Southern US) booger up

   I've buggered up the sudoku somehow and can't finish it.

   • 2016 March 15, David Dale, “John Jarratt talks new show Territory Cops and a murderous return in Wolf Creek”, in The Sydney Morning Herald‎^[1]:

     Well, he only buggers up one sentence, and that's the first one. He says, 'Shut up, blek.' But from that point on, it was OK because I helped him with it. If I'd been there, I would have told him to say, 'Shut up, black', exactly the same as an American accent.

2. (British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) To injure or harm (someone).

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: bagarap

Translations

to break or spoil something

• Czech: zkurvit (cs)
• Tok Pisin: bagarap, bagarapim