rugger bugger
- noun
- /ˈrʌɡə ˈbʌɡə/
- Slang
:
aficionado del rugby
- The university’s rugby team is full of proud rugger buggers who train together year-round.
Examples
-
You can always spot a rugger bugger at the pub after a big match.
-
He's a real rugger bugger who never misses a match.
-
My brother is such a rugger bugger—he travels to every away game with his team.
-
My brother is such a rugger bugger that he plays every weekend.
-
He is such a rugger bugger that he never misses a game, even in the rain.
-
As a true rugger bugger, she travels across the country to support her favorite team.
-
The rugger bugger in our group always talks about his rugby experiences and favorite players.
How Enthusiastic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is partially analyzable: 'rugger' clearly evokes rugby and 'bugger' can be used informally to refer to a person, so a learner could infer 'a person associated with rugby.' However, the expression is informal/regionally British and carries humorous/derogatory nuance that is not fully predictable from the parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal constituents may misread the tone or exact meaning.
Etymology
Rugger bugger mixes rugger, short for 'rugby player', and bugger, a rough word people often use as a friendly tease. Imagine a player covered in mud with friends calling him a joke name after a match; this image shows why rugger bugger means 'a very passionate rugby player or fan'.