A question for someone in UK

[Inchworm]

Why do they call Johns, a hooker's customer, a punter?

I've been watching Wire in the Blood, and this term comes up occasionally. It had to come from somewhere. :)

I do love the show. You guys have some pretty good TV.

The Brits have some cool words, too. My favorite is tosser. :P

:hi:

[cwydro]

1. Wanker is good too lol...

I think it's the same as tosser.

[Inchworm]

2. I like when they say "Piss Off!"

I forget the word that means going out drinking... It's like "He _blanked_ so much he got pissed."

Makes me want to learn English :)

:hi:

[one_voice]

3. I have Wire in the Blood on my Netflix...

first I've ever seen anyone comment on the show.

So it's worth watching?

[Inchworm]

4. I love it!

That is where I'm watching it (NetFlix). I like the fact that there are several seasons. Each show is a start to finish plot and there isn't much of the side story like American TV.

Each episode is like watching a great 90 minute movie.

:hi:

[one_voice]

5. Thanks...

Can't wait to get into it.

:hi:

[Inchworm]

6. Kick: Where did the term "punter" come from?

Still curious :D

:kick:

[PeaceNikki]

7. Here you go

http://www.irelandlogue.com/about-ireland/irish-slang-punter.html

Punter – Your average paying customer.

In the states, a punt is something you do to a ball. It took be quite a while to realise that Irish folks were not referring to some vague sports figure when they said things like, “Your average punter.”

This word is used quite frequently in Ireland to describe people in pubs or an audience member at a sports match. Its usage can bleed over into a term referring to people in general. The word comes from the name for the old Irish currency – the punt was the basic unit of currency in Ireland, just like the dollar would be in the states (not to be confused with the British “pound,” which the “punt” often is).

Also: http://www.effingpot.com/people.shtml
Punter - Punters are customers. Originally came from the betters at the racetracks but has extended in use to mean anyone who should be persuaded to part with their money.

[Inchworm]

8. I love you

:*

Makes sense :)

[PeaceNikki]

9. lol

Glad I could help! :D

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. The derivation from the Irish 'punt' is incorrect

"Betters at the racetracks" is correct, but that came from card players. From the Oxford English Dictionary:

punter, n.1
< either PUNT n.2 or PUNT v.1 (although the latter is apparently first attested slightly later) + -ER suffix1

1. a. Cards. A person who plays against the bank at baccarat, faro, etc.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6), Punter, a Term us'd at the Game of Cards call'd Basset. ...

b. gen. A person who bets or gambles, esp. on horses; a gambler.
1860 R. NICHOLSON Autobiogr. ix. 69 No 14, Park Place, St James's Street, was an elegant gambling-house, frequented by the highest class of ‘punters’. ...

c. slang. The victim of a swindler or confidence trickster.
1934 P. ALLINGHAM Cheapjack xv. 187 But when the grafter decides that it is time for him to get the punter's money, he leans casually against the stall. ...

d. colloq. A customer, a client; (sometimes) spec. a prostitute's client.
1965 Sunday Times 24 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 66/3 There is plenty of irrational judgement about..but like all free-market operators, the traders have to concentrate it on people on each other and on the ‘punters’ (dealer buyers). ...

e. colloq. A spectator, a member of an audience.
1976 A. NICKOLDS & S. HEY ‘Foul’ Bk. Football I. 5 Glasgow Rangers won the Cup Winners Cup in Barcelona, but the punters who came onto the pitch to celebrate afterwards lost heavily to Franco's police.

2. slang. An accomplice or assistant in any of various kinds of crime or scam (see quots.). Also: a member of a criminal gang.
1891 Answers 4 Apr. 338/1 Having filled the premises with pictures,..the auctioneer engages the assistance of what are known in the business as ‘punters’. The ‘punter’..is the auctioneer's confederate, and it is his duty..to make sham bids. ...

3. Sc. colloq. Simply: a person. Sometimes depreciative.
1975 Sunday Times 23 Feb. (Colour Suppl.) 25/2 There's nuthin' but deid punters walkin' up and doon, wi' their beds under their airms. ...

punt, n.2
Origin uncertain; in sense 1 probably < French ponte (in card games) person who plays against the bank (1703; earlier in sense ‘(in card games, e.g. ombre) ace of hearts or diamonds when a red suit is trump’ (1682; compare PUNTO n.3); probably < ponter PUNT v.1, although this is first attested later). In sense 2 probably < similar spec. use of Spanish punto point (see POINT n.1), although such use is apparently not recorded in dictionaries of Spanish. In later use in sense 1 probably influenced by PUNT v.1
It is uncertain whether the two senses given under this entry represent a single word or two separate words of different origins.
With sense 1 compare PUNTER n.1 1

1. A person who plays against the bank in baccarat, faro, etc.; = PUNTER n.1 1a. In later use also: the group of such players.
1704 T. D'URFEY Hell beyond Hell in Tales 94 Th' Assembly meets, and on the board, Scatters, like Jove, the dazling hoard; Salutes the Punts with Bows and Dops. ...

2. In the game of faro: a point. Obs.
1793 Times 14 Mar. 3/1 These people come with their crown pieces and half guineas, and absolutely form a circle round the Faro tables, to the total exclusion of our English Lords and Ladies, who can scarcely get one punt during a whole evening.

punt, v.1
Apparently < French ponter (in games of cards) to lay a stake against the bank (although this is apparently first attested slightly later: 1718) < pont, obsolete form of masculine past participle of pondre (see PONDRE v.). Compare PUNTER n.1, PUNT n.2

1. intr. Cards. In baccarat, faro, etc.: to lay a stake against the bank.
1712 J. ADDISON Spectator No. 323. ¶12 From Eleven at Night to Eight in the Morning. Dream'd that I punted to Mr. Froth. ...

2. intr. gen. To bet or speculate upon something, esp. a horse; to gamble.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Sept. 2/1 Resolving to punt, I selected a horse which was given as the favourite. ...

[cwydro]

10. The Irish have a bunch...

What's the craic? Means what's going on or what's up...pronounced like crack and freaked me out at first lol.

Full as a boot: drunk out of your mind

Thick: angry

Plenty more...like another language lol.