NAFF° ADJECTIVE (YOUTH CULTURE)

In British slang: unfashionable, lacking in style, vulgar or kitsch; also, useless, dud. Etymology: Despite its resemblance to the verb (see naffÜ), the two words do not seem to be etymologically related. The origins of the adjective may lie in English dialects, several of which have similar words of contempt for inept or stupid people: in the North of England, for example, an idiot is a naffhead, naffin, or naffy, and niffy-naffy as an adjective (meaning 'stupid') has been recorded since the last century. In Scotland, nyaff is a term of contempt for any stupid or objectionable person. History and Usage: The word was first used in the late sixties, mostly among young people, as a new alternative for 'square'. The rise of social groups such as the Sloane Rangers and the yuppies in the eighties made it socially desirable for people to know how to avoid being naff (just as, some decades earlier, the social ÷lite had wanted to know how to be U rather than non-U); and in 1983 a whole book (The Complete Naff Guide) was devoted to the subject. Although principally a British word, naff has been borrowed into US English. Now overtaken by other words among the really young, it is used by those who want to sound younger than they are. The nouns corresponding to naff are naff (for the whole style) and naffness (for the quality of being naff). No electricity...I think it's just a naff battery connection. Liza Cody Bad Company (1982), p. 13 'I shan't bother with that,' a chap retorted on hearing what preview I had attended. 'One-word title that doesn't make sense--bound to be naff.' Daily Mail 6 Apr. 1985, p. 6 Issues [of the magazine]...embodied even more the spirit of naff than had earlier been the case. Harpers & Queen Dec. 1989, p. 235