bother

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈbɒð.ə/, US /ˈbɑː.ðɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin, but its first users were Irish writers, Sheridan, Swift and Sterne, which suggests an Irish source.^[2][3] It is probably borrowed from Irish bodhar (“deaf, confused, annoyed”), or a related word,^[2][4] such as Irish bodhaire “deafness, noise” and bodhraim “to deafen, annoy”,^[5][6][7] from Old Irish bodar “deaf”.^[2][4] Etymonline suggests it came through Anglo-Irish pother.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a dialect noun, noise or chatter: the late 17th century.^[5][7][6] The verb, to bewilder with noise, to confuse: 1718, in Sheridan.^[8][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to give trouble to, pester, annoy” is from before 1745, in Swift.^[8][2] In the 18th century the emphasis moved from noise to worry and trouble,^[6] and to take trouble, make a fuss, is from before 1774.^[8] The noun, petty trouble or fuss, is from 1834.^[8][2] The word quickly spread beyond Ireland, and in the 19th century it was a common mild oath in Dickens and Thackeray; the imperative bother! is from 1840.^[6][8] Bovver, deliberate troublemaking, as in bovver boots, is a late-1960s Cockney pronunciation of it.^[6]

Timeline

• late 17th century – noise, chatter (dialect).^[5]
• 1718 – to confuse with noise.^[8]
• before 1745 – to annoy.^[8]
• 1834 – petty trouble.^[8]
• 1840 – bother!^[8]
• late 1960s – bovver.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To annoy or worry someone, especially by small troubles.
2. To interrupt or disturb someone.
3. To take the trouble to do something: don't bother to call.
4. Of an illness or injury, to cause pain or discomfort.

Noun

1. Trouble, effort or difficulty.
2. A person or thing that causes trouble or annoyance.

Interjection

1. (chiefly British) A mild expression of annoyance.

Word family

• botheration
• bothersome

Related words

• pother
• bovver

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press