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Purple Petunias
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this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025
706 points (99.2% liked)
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This is a perfect example of why science is always useful. Without the knowledge of the results, it would be easy to point and laugh at the start of this. You can almost see the anti science headlines. "Boffins spend TWO MILLION of YOUR TAX to make petunias PURPLE".
Is "boffin" a word with positive or negative connotations? I can guess from the context but I'm not sure if it can go both ways
It's a weird one, they're usually acknowledging that the "boffin" in question is an expert or knowledgeable. Yet it's definitely a negative connotation imo, in a kind of anti-intellectual way. Here's a shitrag making the case for it being positive, if you're interested.
I definitely have a negative connotation of anyone that uses the word unironically.
It seems kind of like an American saying "egghead" to refer to unknown, undignified research scientists. Like sure they're smart, but they sure are nerds and losers, amirite? uptop!
But I can't imagine egghead ever being positive, and maybe in England it was, once? I'll have to read the thing you shared.
Edit: I did not realize your article also used egghead... Dang.