Nanty narking, also found with nante, was 19th-century British slang for great fun. Lexicographer Jonathan Green suggests that nark may come from an older sense meaning to annoy, while nanty points to nothing, as in Italian niente. The result means something like “no annoyance at all,” which is a pretty good recipe for a pretty good time. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “19th-Century British Slang “Nanty Narking” Means Great Fun”
Here’s a bit of slang from the 19th century that I don’t know would work today. It’s nanty.
Narking, nanty, narking, nanty. I don’t know, yeah, complaining about nothing. That’s pretty good. It’s not exactly.
What is it?
Tell me.
Well, nantinarking is great fun.
Oh, that was nantinarking.
And you can spell it N-A-N-T-Y or N-A-N-T-E.
So my definition wasn’t anything like that.
Why did you say?
Well, no, because lexicographer Jonathan Green has done some research on this and found that this is probably an old sense of nark, meaning to annoy.
And the nanty, as you suggested, is nothing like Italian niente.
And also in French.
Yeah.
You’re right.
So it’s nothing annoying.
Which means great fun.
I see the absence of annoying things.
Exactly.
Got you.
Exactly.
This show is nanty-narking.
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