Naff Totally Explained

Everything about Naff totally explained

Naff is primarily British slang and some former British colonies. It has several meanings:

Something which is seen to be particularly "cheesy" or "tacky" or in otherwise poor aesthetic taste. An example of a sentence in which it might be used is, "Did you see that American Chopper repeat on the TV last night? I've never seen such a naff programme!". It seems particularly to be used in relation to interior décor, furniture, furnishings, clichéed popular artwork, clothing, accessories, and the like. ("That's a naff tie." "That 1970s wallpaper is really naff.")

The word can also be used to describe something that's poorly thought out, doesn't really work, or is otherwise not very good. This usage is similar to that above, but focuses less on aesthetics and more on adequacy to the task. An example might be to say of a poor or irrelevant example offered in an argument that, "That's a really naff example." Another example might be to say, "That remote control has a really naff user interface." The word naff also has a strong sense of nothingness and many think it's making a comeback into modern day 21st century society.

A general curse word, which gained widespread usage in the 1970s, when the word was used in the TV series Porridge, in order to get around television censorship at the time. The word was also famously attributed to being used by Princess Anne towards press photographers, in which she's said to have told them to "Naff off". However it's widely thought that she actually told the photographers to "Fuck off", which the press decided to print in this milder form.(External Link

) The verb "naff" can be conjugated and used in the same way as the verb "fuck", in the sense of meaning to go away, as for example in the phrase, "I was in the bar with the guys from work, but after an hour or so Mike and Susie naffed off" (for example those two left the bar and went somewhere else).

Heterosexual. The word first gained usage amongst those of the gay subculture in London. Part of the gay polari slang of the 1950s and 1960s, the word was used as a dismissive term towards heterosexuals. It has been suggested that the word Naff is an acronym for "Not Available For Fucking", or "Normal as Fuck". However, they're more likely to be backronyms.

Cliché. A manner, turn of phrase, lifestyle which can be considered to be 'clichéd'. A copy of an original which is considered to be a copy too far. Unoriginal. Metaphorical bling.
Naff can also mean, “Pretension through ignorance” For example, A poorly performed and produced “over the top” amateur dramatic performance in which the participants believe they're as good if not better than professionals.
Naff may come from NAAFI, the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) (pronounced /ˈnæfiː/), an organization created by the British government in 1921 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs clubs, bars, shops, supermarkets, launderettes, restaurants, cafés and other facilities on most British military bases and also canteens on board Royal Navy ships. The organization has been traditionally ridiculed for the poor quality of its goods and services - for example NAAFI stands for No Ambition, Aim or (Farking) Initiative - and to call something "naff" implies poor quality or bad judgment etc.

Last but not least, Naff is a family name. Among those who bear it proudly, despite the occasional snigger, are the historian Thomas Naff, the writer Clayton Naff, and the actress Lycia Naff. Its origin is unknown, though at least one line of Naffs are Christian emigrants from Lebanon. Some claim the name has an Arabic root, which means one who the separates wheat from the chaff. Others have suggested that it may have been the Swiss/German surname Neff, perhaps brought to the Middle East by a Crusader or trader.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Naff'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://naff.totallyexplained.com">Naff Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.