Used to express disgust at a perceived situation or person who has led to what is colloquially known as "banter death". The word is derived from the ancient Norse words "
shi'eet" and "bounter", equivalent to modern day English "
awful" and "
chat" respectively.
In the 21st Century, the word's increased use has led to the creation of a number of variants.
Chief among those that are accepted by the OED are:
- shanterrific (adjective)
- shanterful (adjective)
Amongst the more controversial recent variants of the word are:
- shantastic (adjective)
- shantabulous (adjective)
It is worth noting that the adoption of these latter
two by a
large number of youths has been the subject of much debate and their usage remains frowned upon in certain circles.
Said on seeing a friend attempting - and failing - to
ride his small-engine moped over a
straight stretch of road: "Shanter!"
"Look, Dave just fell of his moped, how absolutely shanterrific!"
Said on seeing a friend's repair
bill after crashing and damaging a rented moped: "Well, this is pretty unbelievably shanterrific!"