different between narg vs nark

English

Etymology

An acronym for "not a real gentleman" Someone who discusses matters of business when not working. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

narg (plural nargs)

1. (Internet) A nerd, someone with extensive knowledge of a particular technical field.
   • 1994 November 7, "purvis" (username), "Postal Tiddlywinks", in alt.games.tiddlywinks, Usenet:

     Perhaps I can be of some assistance here, as I appear to be a member of the Rules subcommittee and am therefore (and for other reasons to numerous to mention) a narg.

   • 1997, November 4, Sunday lunch, cam.misc

     I don't work in the computer industry, either, but all my friends are sad nargs who sit around talking about things like HHGTTG.

   • 1998, June 11, Unusual job for talented computer programmer, cam.misc

     ... most of my adult life going out with a succession of computer programmers, physicists, engineers, budding mathematicians and general nargs of both sexes.

   • 2001 February 2, "Vicky Larmour" (username), "Any americans reading this? - HELP!!!!", in cam.misc, Usenet:

     > Tried that myself as a kid (must be an inquisitive nargy engineering

     > thing).

     Oi! Brown! Are you calling me a narg? Oh well, fair enough I suppose :-)

Derived terms

• nargery

References

• Eric S[teven] Raymond, editor (29 December 2003) , “narg”, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7

Anagrams

• ARNG, gRNA, garn, gnar, gran, grna, rang

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /n??k/, enPR: näk
• (US) IPA^(key): /n???k/, enPR: närk
• Rhymes: -??(?)k

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Perhaps from Angloromani nok (“nose”), from Romani nak, from Sauraseni Prakrit ???????????????? (?akka), ultimately a doublet of nose.

Alternative forms

• narc

Noun

nark (plural narks)

1. (Britain, slang) A police spy or informer.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:informant

   • 1912, George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion, Act I,

     It’s a—well, it’s a copper’s nark, as you might say. What else would you call it? A sort of informer.
2. (Australia, slang) An unpleasant person, especially one who makes things difficult for others.

   Synonyms: spoilsport; see also Thesaurus:jerk, Thesaurus:git

Related terms

• (police spy): copper's nark

Translations

Verb

nark (third-person singular simple present narks, present participle narking, simple past and past participle narked)

1. (transitive, thieves' cant) To watch; to observe.
2. (intransitive, slang) To serve or behave as a spy or informer.

   Synonyms: rat, tattle; see also Thesaurus:rat out

3. (transitive, slang) To annoy or irritate.

4. (intransitive, slang) To complain.

5. (transitive, slang, often imperative) To stop.

Derived terms

• (watch): nark it (“look out”)
• (inform on): narking dues

Translations

Etymology 2

See narc.

Noun

nark (plural narks)

1. Alternative form of narc (narcotics officer).

References

• “nark” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

Anagrams

• ARNK, Karn, karn, knar, kran, rank