Starkers

British slang for stark naked from the late 19th/early 20th century and is a good example of what lexicographers call the Oxford –er, which is the shortening of words and then putting -er on the end of them. Although called the Oxford –er, it started at Rugby School in the 1890s and then moved on to Oxford University and has remained a generally upper class way of talking ever since. The letter ‘s’ is sometimes added to the Oxford-er, as in the case of starkers. Rugger meaning rugby was one of the first examples as was soccer, deriving from association football. ‘Breaker’ for breakfast still survives but the list of such slang abbreviations is virtually interminable. The genre is still very much alive with the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) cricket commentary team where one hears ‘Athers’ for Michael Atherton and ‘Blowers’ for Henry Blofeld.