Argy Bargy

Posted by Word Camel on November 04, 2003

In Reply to: Argy Bargy posted by pdianek on November 04, 2003

: : : In a message from an English friend:
: : : Since that moment, much of the argy bargy in the struggles for power in the UK have been in the cause of Catholic v Protestant rule.
: : : What does it mean?

: : It's rhyming slang. 'Argy' is short for 'argument'. 'Bargy' is a made up word to rhyme with 'argy'. The whole thing simply means argument, confrontation, etc.

: Ahhhh -- so "argy", being short for "argument", must be pronounced with a hard G, like "got"? Since I'd only ever read the expression, not heard it, I'd assumed it was a soft G (as in "giraffe"), viewing that -GY ending as similar to the one in "rangy" -- meaning tall and slender.

: Thanks for clarifying!

Oh, but it *is* a soft 'g'. At least this is how I've always heard it. I'm not sure why, but that's how it's pronounced.

• Argy Bargy masakim 05/November/03
  • Argy Bargy pdianek 06/November/03
    • Just out of curiosity... Word Camel 07/November/03
      • Just out of curiosity... pdianek 07/November/03