Talk:butt

Is butt as "The rear end of a live animal or human; rear end." offensive or not ? It should be said in the definition because the french translation is definitly offensive. 194.117.222.83 09:59, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

butt of jokes

As this is a rather particular use of the word, with a meaning not entirely equivalent to "target" or "victim", it would be wonderful to know how to say it in other languages. It is precisely the sort of thing one cannot look up in a normal dictionary - how do I say 'the butt of jokes' in Japanese, without it having the dark, negative connotations of "victim" or the somewhat more technical, more sterile connotation of "target" - and so there is all the more reason to have it here on Wiktionary. Hopefully someone has some good translations they might offer. Thanks. 124.144.240.97 11:45, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

3 and 23

Aren't entries 3 and 23 redundant? Nicolas1981 05:32, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

UK use

The first three entries are very much American English, and are not generally heard in British English, except in those sub-cultures that are under direct American influence. Also, there seems to be no mention of BUTT as a container for collecting rainwater, also known as a "water butt", which is probably the joint most common British English use of the word, along with its use as a shortened form of "cigarette butt". (There are thousands of examples of this as on-line citations, although the system won't allow me to add any, as I am not logged-in). 82.16.159.251 19:04, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

I could not agree more. I am not only a native English speaker but also a native Englishman. The word "butt" to me has four prime meanings in the following order of imprtance.

• The first is a container, typically for (rain) water. The article says it is a wine container but this is mistaken. In English, wine is stored in casks, though I understand the origin of butt as a barrel is from latinate "buttis";

• The second is the back end of something, as in "cigarette butt", the "butt of a joke", a "gun butt"; from which we get the word buttock (back end of a ship) and ultimately

• The third well understood North American usage, being a contraction of the word buttock in its anatomical usage. This final usage is not at all common in Britain where "bum" is the general colloquial for buttock(s) or else "arse" which is a little bit more offensive.

• Fourthly, there is the meaning of coming together either forcibly (a head butt) or joined together (e.g. a butt joint in carpentry)

In the dictionary entry here, the N American regional slang meanings are given pride of place, which I think is slightly ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the fact that the "container" meaning comes not in first or even second place, but in NINETEENTH place! And then in the historic meaning of holding wine rather than current usage of holding water.

Personally, I think it is wrong and misleading to list 23 main meanings. There are, in act, just a few main meanings from which most of the 23 are derived. I have no objection to these meanings appearing in the article, but they should be organized in ways appropriate to both etymology and usage. The slang meanings are commonly understood and should still feature prominently.

If anyone objects to me reorganizing the definitions, speak now or forever hold thy peace. --84.250.51.92 08:35, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

I agree it's a bit silly, historically speaking, to have the ass/arse slang sense at the very top. Look at space for an example of a noun where senses are broken down into categories. Equinox ◑ 12:12, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

Well - for heaven's sake - change the order! — Saltmarsh^{απάντηση} 15:47, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

RFC discussion: January 2010–February 2016

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for cleanup (permalink).

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.

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butt

A long list of definitions with no structure. Perhaps it should split by etymology? Chambers lists five. Pingku 19:12, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

@Pingku I have taken a run at his. Revert, revise, or archive this on Talk:butt. DCDuring TALK 04:34, 9 February 2016 (UTC)