ratbag

ratbag
n
Australian
a despicable, disreputable or obnoxious person. This term of abuse originated in Australia where it derived either literally from a bag used by a rat-catcher or from the notion of a bag full of rats as the epitome of obnoxiousness. The word became popular in Britain in the early 1960s (helped in no small part by its frequent use in the popular radio com-edy-series Hancock's Half Hour) and is now often used with a degree of affec-tion. In Australia it often denotes an eccentric.
► 'She's a total ratbag -1 don t want to have anything more to do with her.' (Neighbours,
Australian TV soap opera, 1987)

Contemporary slang . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • ratbag — ► NOUN Brit. informal ▪ an unpleasant or disliked person …   English terms dictionary

  • ratbag — UK [ˈrætˌbæɡ] / US [ˈrætbæɡ] noun [countable] Word forms ratbag : singular ratbag plural ratbags British very informal someone who is unpleasant to other people. This word can sometimes be used in a friendly way …   English dictionary

  • ratbag — /ˈrætbæg / (say ratbag) noun Colloquial 1. a rascal; rogue. 2. a person of eccentric or nonconforming ideas or behaviour. 3. a person whose preoccupation with a particular theory or belief is seen as obsessive or discreditable: that Marxist… …  

  • ratbag — noun A despicable person. Then he went and sneaked on me to my boss. What a ratbag! …   Wiktionary

  • ratbag — [[t]ræ̱tbæg[/t]] ratbags N COUNT (disapproval) If you call someone a ratbag, you are insulting them. [BRIT, INFORMAL] Lying ratbags, that s what they are …   English dictionary

  • Ratbag Games — Pty Ltd was an Australian developer of computer games such as Powerslide , and .About The CompanyRatbag was founded in 1993 in Adelaide, South Australia by Richard Harrison and Greg Siegele. Known initially as Emergent Games, the company took 3… …   Wikipedia

  • ratbag — noun Date: 1890 chiefly Australian a stupid, eccentric, or disagreeable person …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Ratbag — mild insult: not a nice person; worthless, despicable, unreliable person; eccentric, crank, fanatic, queer person; Someone who does not behave properly; weirdo …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • ratbag — I Australian Slang mild insult: not a nice person; worthless, despicable, unreliable person; eccentric, crank, fanatic, queer person; Someone who does not behave properly; weirdo II Australian English Someone who does not behave properly …   English dialects glossary

  • ratbag — rat|bag [ˈrætbæg] n BrE informal an unpleasant person …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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