I was introduced to yet another new word this week (I seriously must have missed some vocabulary classes growing up). I am not sure it is a ‘British’ word per se but I can’t say I had heard it before. The word I am referring to is bugbear.
A bugbear by definition is like a bogeyman; an imaginary monster used to frighten children (although to me it sounds like one of the Care Bear’s arch nemesis).
However, in the context which I came across it (two times) this week it was used as a metaphor for something annoying or irritating. ie Classic British bugbears include queue jumpers, traffic wardens, automated phone systems and noisy neighbours.
My personal bugbears are: words I don’t understand, words I can’t pronounce, slow internet, hangovers and cleaning toilets…just to name a few.
