different between swot vs boffin

English

Alternative forms

• swat

Etymology

From a dialectal English word, from Middle English swot, swat, from Old English sw?t (“perspiration; sweat”), from Proto-Germanic swait? (“sweat”). More at sweat.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sw?t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sw?t/
• Homophone: swat
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

swot (third-person singular simple present swots, present participle swotting, simple past and past participle swotted)

1. (intransitive, slang, Britain) To study with effort or determination (object of study indicated by "up on").

   You should swot up on your French before travelling to Paris.

   Synonym: cram

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• hit the books

Noun

swot (plural swots)

1. (slang, Britain) One who swots.
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 23:

     He liked Tom all right... Sampson and Bullock he could do without, however. Especially Sampson, who was too much of a grammar-school-type swot ever to be quite the thing.

2. (slang, Britain) Work.
3. (slang, Britain) Vigorous study at an educational institution.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

Anagrams

• OTWs, Stow, TOWs, Tows, ow'st, stow, tows, twos, wost, wots

Saterland Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sw?t/

Adjective

swot

1. black

English

Etymology

Origin unknown; a number of possible etymologies have been suggested, but no conclusive evidence exists.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?f?n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?f?n/
• Rhymes: -?f?n
• Hyphenation: bof?fin

Noun

boffin (plural boffins)

1. (Australia, Britain, informal) An engineer or scientist, especially one engaged in technological or military research. [from 1930s]

   Synonym: backroom boy
2. (Australia, Britain, informal, by extension) A person with specialized knowledge or skills, especially one who is socially awkward; (in a weaker sense) an intellectual; a smart person.

   Synonyms: brain, brainiac, egghead; see also Thesaurus:intelligent person

Derived terms

• astro-boffin
• boff (possibly related)
• boffinery, boffinry

Translations

See also

• mad scientist
• egghead

References

Further reading

• boffin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Michael Quinion (8 February 2003) , “Boffin”, in World Wide Words