According to the OED, "wonk" in the above-used sense is American in origin:
"wonkishadj. orig. U.S. Polit. excessively concerned with minute points of (governmental) policy (cf. policy wonk n. at POLICY n.1 Compounds 2); (also more generally) bookish, intellectual; extremely detailed or specialized."
I had only seen the adjectival form—"wonky"—which has no such implication of obsessive competence. Which is neat. I love language.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-10-15 12:42 am (UTC)According to the OED, "wonk" in the above-used sense is American in origin:
"wonkish adj. orig. U.S. Polit. excessively concerned with minute points of (governmental) policy (cf. policy wonk n. at POLICY n.1 Compounds 2); (also more generally) bookish, intellectual; extremely detailed or specialized."
I had only seen the adjectival form—"wonky"—which has no such implication of obsessive competence. Which is neat. I love language.