boffins
Lab coat wearers
Boffins is British slang for scientists or technical experts, especially those doing research or working behind the scenes on complex problems.
The term carries a slightly affectionate, slightly dismissive tone—suggesting brilliant but socially awkward people in lab coats: The boffins have developed a new vaccine.
Originally wartime slang for military scientists.
Highly skilled practitioner
- specialistExpert in one field
- geniusPerson of rare brilliance
- brainiacExceptionally intelligent person
- whizInformal term for expert
egghead · nerd · geek · mastermind · savant · intellectual · clever · brainy
One who studies nature
- researcherOne who studies systematically
- laboratoryFacility for scientific investigation
- lab coatProtective work garment
- experimentsTests of a hypothesis
inventions · technical · equations · formulas · data · hypothesis · physics · chemistry
Informal UK vocabulary
- wartimePeriod of armed conflict
- Bletchley ParkWWII British cryptanalysis site
- codebreakersThose who decipher encrypted messages
- military researchArmed forces scientific inquiry
radar · Ministry of Defence · eccentric · secretive · classified · innovation · war effort · intelligence
Senior university teacher
- universityHigher education institution
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
- doctorateHighest academic credential awarded
- thesisAcademic argument requiring defense
journal · scholarship · academia · postgraduate · lecturer · faculty · dissertation · Oxford
expert
Highly skilled practitioner
- specialistExpert in one field
- geniusPerson of rare brilliance
- brainiacExceptionally intelligent person
whiz · egghead · nerd · geek · mastermind · savant · intellectual · clever · brainy · knowledgeable
scientist
One who studies nature
- researcherOne who studies systematically
- laboratoryFacility for scientific investigation
- lab coatProtective work garment
experiments · inventions · technical · equations · formulas · data · hypothesis · physics · chemistry · engineering
British slang
Informal UK vocabulary
- wartimePeriod of armed conflict
- Bletchley ParkWWII British cryptanalysis site
- codebreakersThose who decipher encrypted messages
military research · radar · Ministry of Defence · eccentric · secretive · classified · innovation · war effort · intelligence
professor
Senior university teacher
- universityHigher education institution
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
- doctorateHighest academic credential awarded
thesis · journal · scholarship · academia · postgraduate · lecturer · faculty · dissertation · Oxford · Cambridge
boffinslaypeople
Those outside a profession
laypersons · laymen · non-experts · amateurs · non-specialists
boffinsmanual laborers
Workers using physical effort
blue-collar workers · tradespeople · craftsmen · doers · grease monkeys
boffinsphilistines
Uncultured, materialistic people
anti-intellectuals · ignoramuses · dunces · simpletons · know-nothings