sheepshagger

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From sheep + shagger; originally military slang. First used in the 1950s.

Noun

sheepshagger (plural sheepshaggers)

  1. (Britain, slang) A man who engages in sexual intercourse with sheep; usually used as a slur for a rural person seen as unsophisticated.
    • 1958, John Le Carré, The Naive and Sentimental Lover
      "Landlord, you're a lowlander and a sheep-shagger and you come from Gerrard's Cross. Goodnight."
    • 1958, Mark Bence-Jones, Paradise Escaped iv. 73
      I used to know a Rockburn once... He was in the Sheep Shaggers.
    • 1982, Private Eye, 2 July, 11/1
      She is now back and planning a Victory Parade not to mention her own visit to the newly reconquered territories to receive the homage of the grateful sheepshaggers, all fifty-nine of them.
    • 1992, Ian Pattison, More Rab C. Nesbitt Scripts, 62
      Who are you calling a sheepshagger?
    • 2003, Ian Rankin, The Falls
      ...he'd yelled from his window, giving each sheep-shagger and country bumpkin the finger as he got on the mobile...
  2. (Britain, slang, derogatory) A term of abuse for inhabitants of various countries or regions which have large populations of sheep.
    1. A person from Wales.
      • 2007, Extras (TV series), Christmas Special
        Shaun: Kids can be cruel, eh?
        Darren: Yeah. They can.
        Shaun: What do they say?
        Darren: You know what they say.
        Shaun: What, "lanky four-eyed twat"?
        Darren: Yeah.
        Shaun: "Weirdo goggle-eyed gimp"?
        Darren: Sometimes.
        Shaun: "Frankenstein's albino gonk"?
        Darren: I've never heard that one.
        Shaun: It's so easy to have a go at a bloke who looks like you, you're just easy pickings, and it's... [trails off and shakes his head]
        Darren: "Sheepshagger" they've said sometimes as well.
        Shaun: I thought "sheepshagger" was Welsh.
        Darren: No, it can be Bristol as well.
        Shaun: I thought Bristol was inbreeding.
        Darren: Sheepshagging, inbreeding, slavery... we're famous for loads of stuff down there.
        Shaun: Oh, all right.
    2. A person from New Zealand.
    3. A supporter of Derby County F.C., a reference to the club nickname of The Rams.

See also

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