to play silly buggers
1
9.9
- idiom
- Offensive
:
hacer el gilipollas (vulg.)
- Some bloke was outside the shop playing silly buggers.
Examples
-
Let's stop playing silly buggers and focus on the task at hand.
-
So you're the mad bastard playing silly buggers with the boss here.
-
Now let's not play silly buggers, eh?
-
Listen, I'm in no mood for playing silly buggers.
-
I'm feeling pretty bloody ratty at the moment, and my mood isn't improved by hanging around in my own sodding drive because one of my patients wants to play silly buggers.
Fiction book (1996) -
Whenever he starts to play silly buggers, it annoys everyone in the meeting.
-
She is always playing silly buggers instead of listening to instructions.
Synonyms
88
2.1
Act in a foolish or playful way without taking things seriously
46
3.6
Act in a silly, playful way instead of working
42
4.6
To act silly and playful without doing anything serious
19
5.1
Act in a playful, joking way without being serious
9
4.8
To act silly and playful to make people laugh
7
4.6
Act in a silly way to make others laugh or avoid being serious
6
7.2
To waste time by doing small unimportant things
3
8.0
To behave in a silly or embarrassing way to get attention
3
3.5
To act in a careless, playful way instead of doing something important
1
9.9
To behave in a rude, stupid way
1
9.9
To act rudely and annoy other people
Act in a silly and annoying way
Behave in a silly, clumsy way to make people laugh at you
Behave in a rude, annoying, and foolish way toward other people
To behave in a rude and annoying way
Behave rudely and selfishly and annoy other people
To behave in a rude and annoying way
To behave in a silly and immature way
Behave in a silly, careless way to avoid serious talk
To behave in a silly way without thinking when nervous or tired
To behave in a silly, awkward way that looks foolish
Behave in a silly or foolish way
Behave in a silly, clumsy way
To behave foolishly or clumsily
To ignore good advice and behave foolishly
Act in a silly or stupid way
To waste time by doing silly, unimportant things
To act in a silly, playful way instead of being serious
To suddenly behave in a silly way that other people find odd
To talk or act in a silly, unimportant way
To behave in a silly or annoying way
To behave in a rude or foolish way that annoys other people
Antonyms
How Silly
- Informal
3
8.0
- Offensive
1
9.9
88
2.1
- Informal
42
4.6
- Informal
111
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is largely derivable from the parts: 'play' = act/behave, 'silly' = foolish, and 'buggers' = people (with annoying or coarse connotations), so a learner who knows those words can infer 'behave foolishly or annoyingly.' However, the expression is colloquial/slang and carries pragmatic and register-specific connotations (and 'bugger' may be unfamiliar or offensive), so full comprehension and appropriate use require extra exposure.
Etymology
Play silly buggers probably comes from the image of someone playing the role of a silly bugger — a person acting foolish or causing small trouble. So, it means 'to behave in a foolish, annoying, or distracting way'.