nork

See also: Nork and nõrk

English

Etymology

Unknown, originally used in Australia, attested since the 1960s. One theory suggests that the source is Norco Co-operative, a butter manufacturer that featured a cow's udder on package labels,[1] but this is considered dubious.[2]

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /nɔːk/
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /noːk/
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun

nork (plural norks)

  1. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
    • 1983, Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers, Penguin, published 2009, page 91:
      I lay there so close I could've reached out in any direction and just grabbed a nork.
    • 1999, Louis Nowra, The twelfth of never:
      Ernie constantly badgered me to get her to talk to him but I suspected she would throttle him if he merely glanced in the direction of her norks.
    • 2002, Kate Atkinson, Not the end of the world:
      And her norks! Like a hundred times bigger than his sister's. Why was he thinking about his sister's norks? Gross.

References
  1. Jonathon Green (2024) “norks n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
  2. Eric Partridge (2013) “nork”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd edition, volumes I–II, Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1592.

Anagrams

Basque

Etymology

From nor (“who”) +‎ -k (ergative suffix).

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)
  • IPA(key): /nork/ [nork]
  • Rhymes: -ork
  • Hyphenation: nork

Pronoun

nork

  1. ergative indefinite of nor; who

Usage notes

Both nor and nork are both translated as "who", but nork refers to the subject of a transitive verb:

Nork ikusi du? ― Who saw her?

To ask about the object of a transitive verb or the subject of an intransitive verb, nor is used:

Nor ikusi du? ― Who did she see?
Nor dator? ― Who's coming?

Derived terms
  • nork daki (“who knows”)
  • nork esan (“who would have guessed”)
  • nork jakin (“who knows”)
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