Question about insults

[fearciuil]

What might a teenaged male call another boy he considers a sissy? I need a term that's been around for a while; a character in his late 30s/early 40s is recalling something from his school days to explain why he hates rugby. In this case, the more offensive, the better....

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[xenaclone]

'Sissy' would do.

'Nancy boy' is stronger, though that can imply homosexuality.

'You're such a girl' [though there's women's rugby, so the insult can be deflated quickly and treated as sexist]

[pbristow]

[TRIES TO THINK BACK 30 ODD YEARS]

The problem is that all of the "stronger" accusations of girlyness we used back then (I'm talking 1970s) are actually accusations of gayness, although we might not have consciously thought of them that way at the time. As a 10 year old, say, I think I'd have thought of "wanting to kiss boys" as just being somewhere down the extreme end of girlyness. (And I say that as someone who used to find Nigel (something-or-other)'s soft round cheeks utterly irresistable...)

So you've got the soft option of "girl" and "sissy", and that's about it before you start escalating to "nancy boy", "poof", "ponce", etc., whose technical meanings we didn't necessarily know - We just judged their level of offensiveness based on how adults reacted to them. =:o\

[fearciuil]

It's similar here, re: accusations of being gay.

That's helpful; thanks!

[fearciuil]

Definitely looking for stronger. I want this character to still hate rugby 25 or so years later because of the way the rugby players treated him in school.

Thanks!

[el_staplador]

'Wuss', though that's relatively mild.

[fearciuil]

Thanks.

[inamac]

Wimp? Or 'big girl's blouse' (the latter has been around since the 1960s, but Kate Winslet used it of Leonardo di Caprio when they were working on Titanic.)

[rhiannon_s]

Seconding "big girl's blouse".

[fearciuil]

Hmm....

Thanks!

[bas_math_girl]

The other term nobody's mentioned is to be referred to as "one of them". The words used weren't particularly offensive by current standards, but boy were they said with disgust and venom.
Although it was relatively okay to dislike rugby, it was a much greater crime to dislike football.

[fearciuil]

In this case, it's a rugby player mocking someone who thinks a broken wrist merits leaving the match.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[jhall1]

I think "sissy" is probably as good as anything. "Mother's boy" and "namby-pamby" could be other options. From what you've said, it needs to be something that was commonly used about 25-30 years ago, which might have tended to be a bit milder than nowdays, especially as rugby is mainly played in the posher class of school. (The majority of state schools only play football ("soccer" to an American).) But the bit about the veiled accusation of gayness that someone has made is a good one.