different between daff vs baff

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Etymology 1

From Middle English daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”), from Old Norse daufr (“deaf, stupid”), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf, stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?ewb?- (“to whisk, whirl, smoke, be obscure”). Doublet of dowf and dof. Cognate with Swedish döv (“deaf”), Danish døv (“deaf, stupid”). More at deaf.

Noun

daff (plural daffs)

1. A fool; an idiot; a blockhead.

Derived terms

• bedaff
• daffish
• daffock
• daffy

Etymology 2

From Middle English daffen (“to render foolish”), from daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”). See above.

Verb

daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)

1. (intransitive) To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)

2. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) To daunt.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Grose to this entry?)

Derived terms

• daffing
• daffle

Etymology 3

Variant of doff.

Verb

daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)

1. (transitive) To toss (aside); to dismiss.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3

     DON PEDRO. I would she had bestowed this dotage on me; I would have daffed all other respects and made her half myself.

   • 1948, CS Lewis, ‘Notes on the Way’:

     Such is the record of Scripture. Nor can you daff it aside by saying that local and temporary conditions condemned women to silence and private life.

2. (transitive) To turn (someone) aside; divert.

Etymology 4

From daffodil.

Noun

daff (plural daffs)

1. (Britain, informal) Clipping of daffodil.

   Get your daffs here - £2 a bunch.

   • 1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors

     You want a few more daffs on the decani side […]

Etymology 5

Noun

daff (plural daffs)

1. Alternative form of daf (“type of drum”)

Anagrams

• aff'd

Yola

Verb

daff

1. Alternative form of doff

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Etymology 1

From Middle English baffen (“to bark”). Cognate with Dutch baffen (“to bark”), Low German baffen (“to bark”), German baffen, bäfzen (“to bark”), Danish bjæffe (“to yelp”), Swedish bjäbba (“to yelp, bark”). Compare buff, yaff.

Verb

baff (third-person singular simple present baffs, present participle baffing, simple past and past participle baffed)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To bark; yelp.

Etymology 2

Probably from Scots baff, beff, bauf, probably from West Flemish baf, baffe (“a blow, slap in the face”). Compare also Old French baffe (“slap in the face”) (Modern French baffe), of imitative origin.

Verb

baff (third-person singular simple present baffs, present participle baffing, simple past and past participle baffed)

1. To hit or strike, especially with something flat or soft.
2. (golf) To strike the ground with the bottom of the club when taking a stroke.

Derived terms

• baffed out

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

baff (uncountable)

1. (Tyneside) blank (Can we add an example for this sense?)

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4

German

Etymology

Onomatopoeic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baf/

Adjective

baff (not comparable)

1. (colloquial, chiefly predicative) flabbergasted

Declension

Further reading

• “baff” in Duden online