A Bung Stops a Barrel, and in Britain It Can Be a Bribe
A bung is a stopper for a hole in a container. British slang gives the word a second and much less respectable life.
A bung is a stopper for the hole in a cask or jar. British informal use runs in two directions: to *bung* something somewhere means to throw it there carelessly, and a *bung* is an under-the-table payment, a sense that surfaced in football transfer scandals in the 1990s. *Bunged up* means blocked, whether a drain or a nose. The barrel hole itself is the *bunghole*, and the word came from Dutch coopers.
- A stopper. *A rubber bung.*
- To throw carelessly. *Bung it in the bin.*
- A bribe (British slang). *He took a bung.*
- Bunged up — blocked. *Bunged up.*
- Middle Dutch — *bonghe*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | bung | A bung. |
| Plural | bungs | Bungs. |
| Verb | bung | Bunged. |
| Compound | bunghole | A bunghole. |
| Adjective | bunged up | Bunged up. |
- Push the bung into the barrel.Stopper.
- Bung it in the cupboard.Slang.
- The nose was bunged up.Blocked.
Words from the cooper's trade
- Bung — the stopper of a cask
- Stave — one of the curved planks of a barrel
- Hoop — the metal band holding staves together
- Cooper — the barrel maker, a common surname
- Barrel itself is a unit of volume in oil trading
Middle Dutch *bonghe*, a stopper, possibly from Latin *puncta*, a hole made by piercing.
What does bung mean in British slang?
Two things: to throw something somewhere carelessly, and an illicit payment, a sense made familiar by football transfer scandals.
What is a bunghole?
The hole in a cask through which it is filled and emptied, closed by the bung.